MINNIE    HERMON  ; 


OR, 


THE  CURSE  OF  RUM. 

01  Sole  for  ttye  &i 


BY 

THURLOW  WEED    BROWN. 

.  EMBRACING   ALSO 

THE  LIFE  AND  WORK 

OF 

FRANCIS  MURPHY  AND  DR.  HENRY  A.  REYNOLDS. 

BY 

GEORGE  T.    FERRIS,  A.M. 


NEW  YORK  AND   CINCINNATI  : 
HENRY    S.     GOODSPEED    &    COMPANY. 

BOSTON — B.  R.  STURGES  ;  ST.  JOHN,  N.  B. — W.  E.  ERSKINE  ; 

TORONTO,  ONT.— J.  L.  TROY  &  Co. ; 

ASHLAND,  O. — C.  C.  WICK  &  Co. ;  CHICAGO— J.  W.  GOODSPEEP 

1878. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1818, by 
H.   8.   GOODSPEED, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington, 
D.  C. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  L 
A  MARKED  CHARACTER  INTRODUCED  TO  THE   READER,     .  ,      ,     31 

CHAPTER  11. 
THE  MANUSCRIPT, t     .     .          38 

CHAPTER  III 
MINNIE  II KRMOS, .  ...     50 

CHAPTER  IV. 
A  NEW  PROJECT, 53 

CHAPTER  V. 
THE  SPELL  BROKEN  —  EVIL  COUNSELS  PREVAIL,    ......     68 


CHAPTER  VL 
THE  "  HOME  "  —  A  WRONG  REGULATED ...     74 

CHAPTER  VIL 
DEATH   rs    rat  Arrrc, .88 

CHAPTER  VHI 
A  WEDDING  AT  THE  COTTAGK — ONLY  »M:  GLASS  "   .      .  94 


2051352 


VI 

CHAPTER  IX. 

FIRST  FRCITS,  HO 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  AUTHOR  TALKS  —  A  LAPSE  OF  TEN  TEARS  IN  OVTR  HISTORY  — 
THE  CHANGE,   .      .      .     ^  . .  .• 

CHAPTER  XL 
A  WINTER  SCBNE, 185 

CHAPTER  XIL 
THREE  MEETINGS,  AND  WHAT  WAS  SAID  —  A  PRATER  ANSWERED,  145 

CHAPTER    XIII. 
MABEL  DUNHAM, 159 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
GOING  FROM  HOME, .,  -  ."  .».•/».•,.  .  167 

CHAPTER  XV. 
UHMOORED  FROM  THE  HEARTH, .175 

CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  STRANGER  IN  THE  TARPAULIN, 180 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

THETHIAL, ,186 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
THE  GAUX>WS  CHEATED  OF  A  PREY  —  THE  PEOPLE  OF  A  SIGHT,         208 

CHAPTER    XIX. 
THE  WATT  FAMILY,  .  212 


CONTENTS.  VJi 

CHAPTER    XX. 
"MORAL    SUASION," 221 

CHAPTER   XXI 

A.  BEACON  ON  THE  WASTE 232 

• 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

BREAKING    GROUND  AGAIN, .  244 

CHAPTER  XXIIL 
LIGHT  IN  A  DARK  PLACE, .  265 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
WASHINGTONIANISM  —  THE  OLD  MAN'S  Sronr.         ,     ,     .     .         281 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
HIGH  LIFE, 305 

CHAPTER  XXVL 
CLEAN  TICKETS  — STICKING  TO  PARTY 319 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

POISON  IN  THE  CUP  —  SIGNATURE  OF  THE  DEAD  —  A  GUEST  NOT  IN- 
VITED,   353 

CHAPTER  XXVIIL 
Two  MORNING  CALLS  —  A  LIVE  MAN  FOR  A  DEAD  ONE,   .  870 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 
RiE  WICKED  PLOT  —  THE  WICKED  TRIUMPH,     ......  388 

CHAPTER  XXX. 
ANOTHER  VICTIM  IN  THE  NET  —  THK  WICKED  STILL  TRICMPH,  .  896 


viii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXXL 
THK  SECRET  Our  —  A  FATAL  WAGER,      ......  408 

CHAPTER  XXXIL 

GROUPING  OF  SCESES, •  423 

• 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
A  STAR  IN  THE  EAST  —  THE  PLAGUE  STAYED, 444 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 
Two  RESCUES, 473 

CHAPTER  XXXV 
Ift  WHICH  THE  READER  WILL  FIND  BOMB  OLD  ACQCAINT 

ANCES,  AND  LEARN  WHAT  BECAME  OF   THEM,      .....  494 
CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE  JOY  OF  DOING  GOOD — MlNNIE  AND  WALTER  BECOME  INTER- 
ESTED IN  THE  GOOD  TEMPLAR  MOVEMENT- WALTER  MADE 
GRAND  WORTHY  TEMPLAR  ....  511 

CHAPTER  XXXVH. 

TWENTY  TEARS  LATER.  REMOVAL  OF  MINNIE  AND  WAI/TEB 
TO  OHIO  —  THE  PREVALENCE  OF  INTEMPERANCE  THERE  — 
THE  WOMEN'S  CRTJSADE  —  IDA'S  LETTER  TO  CARRIF 
HUDSON,  . 618 

THE  LITE  AND  WORK  OF  FRANCIS  MDEPHT 543 

THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF  DR.  HENRY  A.  REYNOLDS 813 


PREFACE. 


OUR  Preface,  reader,  shall  have  the  merit  of  brevity,  and 
shall  detain  you  but  a  moment. 

You  will  bear  in  mind  that  every  chapter  in  the  book  is 
drawn  from  life,  with  the  necessary  change  of  names  and 
dates —  the  only  difficulty  having  been  in  selecting  from  the 
mass  of  materials  collected  during  an  active  participation  in 
the  Temperance  Reform.  Those  living  who  have  a  vivid  re- 
membrance of  the  scenes  herein  detailed,  will  appreciate  our 
object  in  sketching  them. 

The  history  of  the  "  Watt  Family  "  was  written  with  a 
throbbing  nib,  and  its  truth  sealed  with  the  endorsement  of 
a  scalding  tear. 

If  our  record  shall  arouse  a  single  heart  to  a  more  in- 
veterate hatred  against  the  Great  Wrong,  our  object  wil] 
have  been  accomplished. 

—  Pass  on. 


MOTHER  STEWART,  THE    LEADER   OF  THE  "WOMEN'S  MOVEMENT." 


INTRODUCTION. 


FOR  i'orty  days  and  forty  nights  the  rain  poured 
down  from  the  open  windows  of  the  heavens,  until 
the  flood  covered  the  earth,  and  the  sun,  after  the 
storm,  smiled  down  upon  the  watery  waste,  where 
a  world  lay  entombed.  Solitary  and  alone,  without 
helm,  mast,  or  sail,  like  a  speck  on  the  world-wide 
ocean,  floated  the  ark  with  its  freight.  The  olive 
branch,  borne  upon  a  weary  but  glad  wing,  proclaimed 
the  subsiding  of  the  deluge.  The  sunbeams  kissed 
the  vapors  as  they  rolled  up  from  the  retiring  waters, 
and  the  bow  of  promise  lifted  its  arch  into  the 
clouds. 

Noah  went  out  and  planted  a  vineyard.  He  par- 
took of  its  fruits,  and  lay  in  his  tent  in  the  slumbers 
of  drunkenness.  The  frailties  of  a  good  man  are 
used  to  justify  the  drinking  usages  of  to-day.  The 
scourge  of  a  world  passed  away,  had  commenced  its 
progress  again  in  the  new.  From  that  vineyard  the 
tide  has  swept  on,  gathering  in  depth  and  power, 
imtil  the  debris  of  human  ruin  has  been  left  on 
every  shore  where  human  foot  has  trodden.  Stream 
has  mingled  \dth  stream,  and  wave  followed  wave, 

(xiii) 


xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

until  every  land  and  people  have  been  scourged.  In 
the  hamlet,  the  city,  the  country,  or  wilderness,  the 
influence  has  been  the  same.  Nations  have  been 
drunken  to  madness.  New  woes  and  keener  sor- 
rows have  been  sent  out  to  stalk  through  the  world, 
followed  by  red-handed  crime  and  ghastly  death. 
Beneath  those  oblivious  waves,  the  brightest  hopes 
of  earth  and  heaven  have  gone  down ;  and  up  and 
down  the  world  the  stricken  millions  have  wasted 
away,  and  prematurely  mingled  with  a  mother  dust. 
North,  east,  south  and  west,  the  plague  has  spread. 
The  white  sails  of  commerce  have  borne  it  across 
oceans.  The  pioneer  has  carried  it  across  the  wilder- 
ness. The  trader  has  scaled  the  mountain  range, 
and  thus,  in  civilized  and  savage  clime,  the  noon-day 
scourge  has  sped  on  in  its  mission  of  ruin.  In  the 
hut  of  the  savage,  or  where  science,  letters  and  art 
have  elevated  and  refined,  the  effects  have  been  the 
same.  The  very  heart  of  human  society  has  been 
poisoned,  until  along  every  artery  of  health  and 
strength,  the  hot  currents  have  swept  in  their  blight- 
ing power.  The  shadow  has  fallen  across  nearly 
every  hearth-side,  and  at  the  altar's  base ;  and  lingered 
there  like  the  foot-prints  of  unutterable  woe.  Most 
every  house  has  had  one  dead  in  it — every  circle  haa 
been  broken.  Homes  are  ruined  and  deserted,  and 
fields  turned  to  waste.  The  wife  and  the  children 
are  driven  out  from  the  home-roof,  and  to-day  the 
mothers  of  America,  like  Niobe  of  old,  as  they 
weep  at  their  broken  altars,  are  attempting  to  shield 


INTKODUOTION.  XV 

fcheir  offspring  from  the  shafts  which  fall  thickly 
around,  and  quiver  in  the  tender  hearts  they  love. 
It  is  Intemperance  that  we  speak  of ;  the  history  of 
whose  desolations  has  outstripped  the  wildest  imagery 
of  tragic  fiction,  and  laughed  to  scorn  the  efforts  of 
the  tongue,  pen  or  pencil.  If  hell  hag  one  more 
potent  enginery  of  human  degradation  and  crime 
upon  earth  than  another,  it  is  Intemperance.  Its 
very  sound  sends  a  thrill  back  to  the  heart,  and  a 
Gorgon  monster  slowly  rises  up  from  its  heart  of 
blood  among  the  graves. 

The  gloomy  night  of  Intemperance  long  rested 
upon  tha world,  and  no  day-star  in  the  horizon.  The 
death  slumber  was  deep  and  profound.  Like  the 
fabled  city  which  was  petrified  into  stone,  no  trumpet 
blast  rang  out  to  awaken  to  life.  Woe  and  want  went 
band  in  hand.  Vice  and  violence  stalked  unobstruct- 
ed, and  crime  laughed  and  reeled  in  its  drunkenness 
of  blood.  Alone  in  the  sky,  the  malign  light  of  the 
death-beacon  followed  man  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave.  The  monster  sat  at  every  gathering.  At 
the  birth,  marriage,  or  death ;  in  the  home,  shop,  or 
field  ;  at  the  social  re-union,  or  the  festive  day — in 
hut,  palace,  or  council-hall,  it  plied  its  work.  The 
fair  young  bride  stood  at  the  altar  in  the  light  of  her 
bright  life-dream,  and  handed  the  goblet  to  him  she 
had  chosen  to  accompany  in  the  pilgrimage  of  life. 
At  the  social  board,  the  father  followed  the  mar- 
riage prayer  with  a  glass.  In  the  silence  of  the 
night,  where  the  living  had  just  passed  to  the  rest 


XVI  CTERODTTCTION. 

of  death,  the  dec  anter  kept  its  watch  with  the  watch- 
ers. What  wonder,  then,  that  Intemperance,  like 
the  red  ploughshare  of  ruin,  went  under  almost 
every  hearth ! 

A  missionary  once  found  a  heathen  mother  in 
tears.  She  wrung  her  hands  as  she  left  her  hot 
kissses  upon  the  lips  of  a  beautiful  child,  calm  in  the 
slumbers  of  death.  The  little  treasure  had  been  bit- 
ten by  a  serpent.  The  woman  was  one  of  the  ser- 
pent-worshippers, and  the  reptile,  which  had  robbed 
her  of  her  first  and  only  child,  lay  coiled  at  the 
hearth-side  of  the  home  it  had  made  desolate,  safe 
from  the  avenging  hand  of  the  superstitious  mother. 
She  would  not  destroy  it.  Need  we  wonder  at  the 
superstition  of  the  benighted  heathen !  To-dayj 
America  is  a  nation  of  serpent  worshippers.  We 
look  around  us,  and  how  many  homes  are  there  where 
the  serpent  is  coiled,  yet  madly  cherished  by  those 
who  have  mourned  the  loved  and  the  good,  poisoned 
to  death  by  its  fangs !  And  at  the  same  time  we  see 
a  great  and  free  people  hesitating  about  crushing 
these  serpents !  The  darker  rites  and  fearful  religion 
of  the  poor  Pagan  can  but  share  our  sympathies. 

We  are  proud  of  our  country  and  its  institutions. 
There  is  no  land  like  our  land ;  no  people  -like  our 
people  ;  no  lakes  like  our  lakes ;  no  streams  like  our 
streams ;  no  prairies  like  our  prairies,  or  mountains 
like  our  mountains,  as  they  sit  upon  a  continent  and 
nod  to  each  other  in  the  clouds.  American  enter- 
prise and  American  genius,  irventive  and  literary,  is 


INTRODUCTION.  XV11 

startling  a  world  from  its  slumbers.  The  heart  of 
our  republic  throbs  up*  n  two  shores  ;  and  jet,  at  the 
heart  of  all  our  free  institutions  a  cancer  is  tugging 
with  never-resting  energy.  For  its  removal,  Chris- 
tians and  philanthropists  are  marshaling. 

It  is  but  little  over  half  a  century  since  a  land  so 
favored  groaned  in  bondage  unbroken.  ~No  light  had 
broke  in ;  no  star  had  beamed  out  to  guide  our  wise 
men  to  a  Saviour.  Humanity  wept  over  the  desola- 
tions. Patriotism  saw  its  first  stars  pale  and  set  in 
darkness.  Religion  saw  its  most  gifted  ones  fall  to 
rise  no  more.  The  strongest  were  in  shackles,  and 
the  friend  of  his  country  and  of  man  looked  out 
sadly  upon  the  scene,  and  saw  no  morning  light  in 
the  dark  night.  Foreigners  stigmatized  us  as  a  nation 
of  drunkards.  Thus,  unobstructed,  the  work  went 
on.  The  great  deep  of  popular  opinion  had  not  been 
stirred  by  a  single  breath,  but  lay  in  its  stillness  until 
miasma  had  bred  in  its  sluggish  bosom,  and  rolled  up 
to  sicken  and  destroy.  The  thunder  of  popular  wil] 
slumbered  uninvoked  in  the  ballot-box,  or,  like  the 
three-mouthed  dog  of  hell,  sleeplessly  guarded  the 
wrongs  there  entrenched.  A  scourge  was  abroad  in 
the  land,  yet  a  free  and  Christian  people  slept  over 
their  wrongs,  and  yielded  without  an  effort  to  the 
annual  conscription  of  Intemperance. 

But  a  better  era  was  to  dawn  upon  our  country. 
A  brazen  serpent  was  lifted.  The  trumpet-blasts  of 
Temperance  Reformers  started  the  petrified  cities 
into  life.  The  plume  tossed  in  the  conflict,  the  war- 


Xv'll  INTRODUCTION. 

horse  plunged  and  chafed,  and  in  the  light  of  the 
coming  morning  the  Banner  of  Temperance  rolled 
out  like  a  beacon  of  hope  and  promise  to  gladden  a 
world.  A  breath  has  swept  the  valley  of  Hiimom, 
and  the  sleepers  arise.  The  ocean  is  swept  by  the 
storm,  and  hope  springs  up  in  the  human  heart.  The 
light  comes  slowly,  but  it  bears  healing  upon  its 
wings,  and  heralds  redemption  to  a  rum-scourged 
world.  There  is  joy  in  heaven  and  upon  earth.  The 
mother  weeps  tears  of  joy,  and  clasps  her  child  to  her 
bosom,  with  a  prayer  of  gratitude  for  the  promise 
which  speaks  of  a  better  day  for  her  and  hers.  And 
so  the  great  moral  revolution  has  commenced — a  war 
of  extermination,  ending  only  when  the  rum  traffic 
shall  exist  no  longer.  A  free  people  are  girding  for 
the  conflict  with  a  hoary  curse,  saying  to  its  armies, 
as  they  wage  the  strife  from  pillar  to  pillar — "  Thus 
far,  and  no  farther." 

The  history  of  the  Temperance  Reformation  is 
not  yet  written.  The  strife  is  yet  in  progress.  But 
that  history  will  occupy  the  brightest  pages  of  our 
country's  annals,  and  command  the  admiration  of  the 
world.  "We  look  back  with  a  full  heart  and  kindling 
eye  upon  that  history.  There  is  a  moral  sublimity 
and  beauty  in  the  record.  It  is  like  the  beaming  of 
the  setting  sunlight  across  the  ocean.  Storms  may 
have  swept  the  surface,  and  its  waves  daslied  angrily 
upon  the  shore ;  but  in  its  calm  there  is  a  wake  of  crim- 
son and  gold — a  beautiful  pathway,  where  angels  might 
fcread.  The  course  of  our  reform  has  been  marked 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

"by  the  most  important  results.  It  lias  carried  bless- 
ings to  myriads  of  hearts  and  homes.  There  is  an 
angel  in  its  waters,  and  peace,  happiness  and  hope 
spring  up  where  desolation  has  •vdthered  up  the 
greenness  of  earth.  It  is  destined  to  revolutionize 
the  sentiment  of  a  world.  It  enlists  all  that  is  lovely 
and  noble  in  the  human  heart — the  eloquence  of 
poetry,  and  the  inspiration  of  genius ;  the  fervor  of 
patriotism,  and  the  zeal  of  religion.  Its  principles 
are  as  plain  to  the  mind  as  the  sun  at  mid-day,  and 
as  just  as  God.  It  is  the  gospel  of  redemption  to  a 
ram-cursed  world — the  John  the  Baptist  of  the  Chris- 
.  tkn  religion.  Like  the  Christian  religion,  its  fruits 
bear  full  evidence  of  its  blessed  character.  When 
John  heralded  the  coming  of  the  Saviour,  he  did  not 
startle  the  world  by  the  brilliancy  of  his  promises. 
He  did  not  announce  that  Christ  was  coming  with  a 
crown  of  gold  upon  his  head  and  a  monarch's  sceptre 
in  his  hand,  with  legions  of  conquering  warriors 
bristling  in  armor,  and  in  his  train  the  kings  and 
princes — the  rich  and  powerful,  and  elite  of  earth. 
No :  the  dumb  should  speak,  the  deaf  should  hear, 
the  blind  see,  the  lame  walk,  the  dead  be  raised,  and 
the  gospel  be  preached  to  the  poor.  And  thus  along 
the  pathway  of  Christianity,  wherever  its  spirit  has 
gained  a  foothold,  there  are  eloquent  records  of  its 
principles  and  influences.  So  with  the  Temperance 
Reform.  The  heralds  did  not  announce  that  the 
fashionable  and  the  wealthy,  the  titled  great,  the 
aristocracy  of  the  land,  would  exclusively 


XX  DTERODUCTIOK. 

lend  it  their  countenance.  But  tie  blind  have  seen, 
the  deaf  have  heard,  the  stone  has  been  rolled  away 
from  the  grave  of  drunkenness,  and  the  lost  restored ; 
devils  have  been  cast  out  of  those  cut  among  the 
tombs,  and  its  gospel  has  been  preached  to  the  poor. 
The  reform  was  designed  by  a  kind  God  to  lift  up 
and  restore  poor  fallen  humanity,  and  not  to  add 
brilliancy  to  fashion,  or  popularity  to  men.  The  prodi- 
gals, who  have  wasted  all  in  riotous  living  and  hun- 
gered for  the  husks,  have  turned  back  from  their  dark 
wanderings,  and  the  temperance  cause  has  met  them 
half-way,  and  rejoiced  that  the  lost  were  found.  The 
so-called  fashionable  have  murmured,  and  turned 
away  with  scorn  from  such  manifestations.  They 
would  so  have  scorned  the  meek  Saviour,  because  he 
called  after  the  sinner,  and  wept  with  and  comforted 
the  poor  and  afflicted. 

The  hand  of  Providence  has  marked  the  course  of 
our  cause.  Step  by  step,  it  has  moved  onward,  ever 
going  deeper  into  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  men. 
It  has  had  its  reverses,  as  has  every  great  moral 
revolution  which  has  agitated  the  world;  but  its  first 
standard,  "  torn  but  flying,"  floats  out  prouder  to- 
day than  ever  before.  There  is  a  hydra  influence 
against  it — one  sleepless  and  gigantic.  But  ours  is 
the  majority,  for  God  is  with  us.  At  times  it  has 
been  beaten — its  waves  have  rolled  back  and  again 
mingled  with  their  kindred  waters  ;  but  they  have  re- 
turned to  the  shock  with  other  waves  and  deeper 
flow,  sweeping  on  with  the  strength  and  grandeur  of 


INTRODUCTION.  XXI 

its  power.  Wealth  has  opposed  it,  fashion  has 
sneered  at  it,  interest  lias  fought  it,  demagogues 
have  stabbed  it,  and  Iscariots  have  betrayed  and  sold 
it;  but,  like  the  oak  matured  in  the  storm,  it  has 
taken  root,  until  its  towering  trunk  sways  defiance 
to  the  fiercest  wrath  of  the  tempest.  And  it  will 
live,  and  flourish,  and  gloriously  triumph: 

The  blessings  of  the  Temperance  Reform  are 
sufficient  to  reward  for  an  age  of  effort.  One  home 
made  joyous — one  broken  heart  healed  and  made 
happy — one  man  restored  to  manhood,  family,  so- 
ciety, and  God — is  a  prouder  and  more  enduring 
monument  than  ever  towered  in  marble.  What  a 
change  it  has  wrought  in  public  sentiment !  Look 
back — and  many  of  us  can  remember  it — to  the 
time  when  tippling  was  interwoven  with  eveiy  cus- 
tom of  society,  and  infancy  sucked  drunkenness 
from  the  mother's  breast.  We  know  that  intemper- 
ance yet  sits  like  a  nightmare  upon  the  bosom  of  so- 
ciety; but  there  are  millions  of  homes,  and  fields, 
and  systems  from  which  it  has  been  forever  banished. 
Where  is  now  the  physician  that  prescribes  rum  to 
the  mother,  or  a  mother  who  swallows  such  prescrip 
tions,  or  feeds  them  to  the  child  ?  Where  is  the 
family  table  where  the  morning  bitters  sit  with  the 
food  which  gives  life  and  strength  ?  Where  is  the 
mechanic  who  carries  it  to  his  shop  ?  The  fanner 
who  furnishes  it  to  his  laborers  in  the  field  ?  The 
marriage  where  the  health  and  happiness  of  the 
bride  must  be  given  in  wine  '(  The  funeral  where  it 


XX  ii  INTRODUCTION. 

must  mingle  with  the  tears  of  the  bereaved  ?  They 
are  scarce.  A  blessed  light  has  dawned  upon  com 
omnity,  and  it  is  found  that  man  can  be  born,  mar- 
ried, and  die  without  the  spirit  of  alcohol. 

In  the  progress  of  the  reform,  nearer  and  still 
nearer  to  the  enemy,  the  ground  has  been  broken. 
The  first  position  was  not  the  one  of  to-day.  The 
old  pledge  was  the  entering  wedge,  but  it  did  not 
banish  the  insidious  tempter  from  our  own  ranks. 
It  coiled  still  in  the  wine-cup,  and  in  the  more  com- 
mon alcoholic  beverages.  Experience  demonstrated 
the  folly  of  chaining  the  mad  dog,  and  the  total  ab- 
stinence pledge  was  adopted.  Then  came  a  war 
among  temperance  men,  but  the  right  triumphed ; 
for,  it  was  found  that  the  old  pledge  was  a  danger- 
ous ground  for  drinking  men.  Then  came  the 
Washingtonian  movement,  like  a  storm,  and  its  floods 
swept  on  with  startling  intensity  and  power.  There 
are  ten  thousand  trophies  where  it  moved ;  but  the 
force  of  the  torrent  long  since  spent  itself.  The 
flames  have  died  out  upon  its  altars,  as  a  general 
thing,  and  its  legions  disbanded,  or  enlisted  in  new 
organizations. 

In  the  commencement  of  our  reform,  and  for  a 
number  of  years,  the  mass  of '  its  friends  considered 
"moral  suasion"  as  the  only  means  of  success.  It 
would  have  accomplished  its  work,  were  all  men 
susceptible  to  moral  influences.  But  it  would  not 
answer  the  ends  designed.  While  human  nature  is 
such  as  to  require  penal  laws  in  tlie  restraint  and 


ESTTRODTJCTION.  XXH1 

punishment  of  its  excesses,  moral  influences  will 
never  keep  man  from  the  commission  of  wrong. 
God's  government  is  not  based  upon  moral  suasion 
alone.  His  laws  are  prohibitory,  as  are  the  lawa 
upon  our  statute  books.  And  against  all  this  array 
of  enactments,  human  and  divine,  wicked  men  con 
tinue  to  trample  upon  the  rights  of  others.  If  laws 
will  not  prevent  the  commission  of  wrong,  who 
would  expect  moral  influences  alone  to  protect  the 
interests  of  society  from  the  vicious  and  abandoned  ? 
And  more  especially  would  it  fall  far  short  of  accom- 
plishing such  an  object,  when  coming  in  contact  with 
evils  sustained  and  guarded  Tyy  legislation.  Seldom, 
while  avarice  has  a  home  in  the  human  heart,  can 
bad  men  be  influenced,  by  moral  considerations,  to 
abandon  a  traffic  which  law  tolerates,  and  protects, 
and  clothes  with  respectability.  With  a  license  law 
existing  and  shielding  the  seller  from  punishment, 
how  long  before  he  could  be  prevailed  upon  to 
abandon  a  lucrative  business  ?  In  most  instances 
time  might  end  and  find  the  traffic  in  its  full  strength, 
and  those  engaged  in  it  as  indifferent  to  our  en- 
treaties and  appeals,  as  they  are  to-day. 

It  was  thought  that  the  fountain  must  be  dried — 
the  Upas  uprooted  and  destroyed  forever.  Hence 
the  idea  of  prohibition  and  protection.  And  this 
sentiment  found  a  response  in  the  hearts  of  the 
friends  of  the  cause,  enthusiastic  and  unanimous. 
Here  was  the  great  battle-ground,  and  around  this 
banner  the  contending  interests  rallied.  Eloquence 


INTRODUCTION. 

had  been  spent  in  vain,  heretofore,  so  far  as  having 
any  effect  upon  those  engaged  in  the  traffic.  God's 
truth  had  thundered  against  them.  Facts  had  been 
oiled  on  facts,  until  they  towered  in  fearful  judg- 
ment against  them.  Arguments  unanswerable  had 
been  adduced,  and  appeals  of  the  most  earnest  and 
touching  pathos  been  made.  All  had  been  in  vain. 
Entrenched  behind  law,  and  flanked  by  the  unscru- 
pulous demagogism  of  the  country,  they  looked 
unmoved  upon  the  ruin  wrought  by  their  own  hands, 
and  laughed  all  our  efforts  to  scorn.  A  new  system 
of  warfare  must  be  adopted,  or  the  strife  would  be 
tor  time.  As  in  times  past,  so  Providence,  at  this 
juncture,  directed  the  movements.  Then  appeared  a 
light  in  the  east,  and  clear  and  startling  above  the 
din  of  the  strife,  came  a  new  battle-cry,  thrilling  like 
an  electric  shock,  and  everywhere  arousing  oui 
wearied  hosts.  A  new  banner  out,  and  its  magic 
words  filled  all  hearts  with  zeal,  faith  and  hope. 
"  The  Maine  Law  "  was  an  emblem  of  triumph.  It 
was  thought  to  be  the  mystic  writing  upon  the  wall, 
announcing  the  downfall  of  the  Babylon  whose  ini- 
quities had  so  long,  cursed  the  earth,  and  the  politi- 
cal •  Belshazzars  already  looked  upon  the  record  of 
sure-coming  doom,  and  trembled.  The  new  plan  was 
as  simple  as  potent.  It  embodied,  in  a  stringent 
form,  the  principles  of  prohibition  and  protection. 
Like  all  other  laws  for  the  prevention  of  crime,  it 
struck  at  the  cause,  leaving  the  streams  to  dry  up, 
when  no  longer  fed  by  the  fountain.  It  dispensed 
with  arguments  and  appeals.  It  left  no  dripping 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

heads  to  multiply  others,  but  attacked  the  hydra  in 
his  den,  and  with  the  hot  irons  of  fine  and  imprison- 
ment, seared  as  it  went.  From  various  causes  the 
MAINE  LAW  failed  to  accomplish  the  grand  results 
hoped  for  it,  by  those  who  fought  under  the  banner. 
Still,  much  good  was  done,  and  the  last  great  day 
shall  marshal  an  army,  saved  from  the  power  of  the 
second  death,  as  one  of  the  benefits  of  the  Maine 
Law  agitation. 

Again  the  banner  of  the  Temperance  Reformation 
is  flung  to  the  breeze.  Before  the  emblem  of  joy 
was  seen  in  the  East.  Now  it  unfurls  its  folds  over 
the  valleys  of  the  great  "West,  and,  from  present  ap- 
pearances, the  "  movement "  will  go  on  till  the  broad 
Union  is  made  to  feel  its  po  ./er.  Grand  results  have 
already  been  accomplished.  Many  desolate  homes 
have  been  made  happy.  Every  day  the  telegraph 
brings  us  news  of  victory.  May  "  God  defend  the 
right "  in  the  battle 

In  what  is  called  the  "  Woman's  Movement,"  the 
method  of  procedure  is  for  women  to  meet  early  in 
the  morning  in  one  of  the  churches,  hold  a  prayer  and^ 
singing  meeting  for  an  hour  or  so,  and  then  start 
forth  in  bands  of  ten  or  twenty,  visiting  the  various 
saloons  and  drug  stores  where  liquor  is  sold,  present- 
ing a  form  of  pledge  to  cease  retailing  liquors,  with 
a  request  to  sign  and  stop  selling  liquor.  If  they 
comply,  the  ladies  pass  on  to  another ;  but  if  they 
are  met  with  a  refusal,  then  they  exhort,  persuade, 
hold  a  prayer-meeting,  sing  a  hymn,  etc.,  and  pass 


XXVI  INTRODUCTION. 

on,  promising  to  "  call  again."  Sometimes  the  pray- 
er-meetings continue  for  hours  with  fervent  petition, 
earnest  entreaty,  and  persistent  pleading.  This  is 
repeated  every  day  till  the  dealers  are  subdued.  Day 
after  day,  in  winter's  cold  and  sleet,  these  meetings 
are  continued,  until  very  many  towns  are  redeemed 
from  the  sale  of  liquor. 

Various  instrumentalities  have  operated  in  bring- 
ing the  Temperance  Reform  up  to  its  present  com- 
manding position.  Able  men  have  written  and 
spoken,  and  from  the  rostrum  and  the  pulpit  public 
opinion  has  been  educated.  But  the  great  engine 
has  been  the  Press.  This  giant  friend  of  man  in  a 
free  country,  has  scattered  its  light,  its  facts,  argu 
ments  and  appeals,  into  millions  of  hearts  and  homes. 
It  has  invoked  a  storm  slowly,  but  none  the  less 
effectually.  The  mutterings  of  years  past  are  deep- 
ening into  startling  peals,  and  the  red  language  of 
popular  indignation  and  wrath  glows  ominously 
bright  across  the  sky.  The  deep  of  public  opinion 
is  rocking  to  its  depths. 

The  Temperance  Press,  at  first  struggling  with 
'almost  overwhelming  difficulties,  has  slowly  increased 
in  ability  and  power,  and  to-day  exerts  a  controling 
influence  upon  public  sentiment.  The  literature  of 
our  reform  is  assuming  a  more  refined  tand  elevated 
character,  and  clothing  great  truths  in  pure  and  more 
attractive  garb ;  and  never  was  there  a  wider  field  for 
the  exercise  of  intellectual  effort.  The  wildest  dreams 
of  fiction  seem  tame  in  comparison  with  the  stern 


INTRODUCTION.  XXVll 

and  sober  realities  of  our  cause.  Tragedies,  more 
fearfully  dark  and  startling  than  Avon's  bard  ever 
sketched,  are  thickly  traced  on  the  record  of  rum's 
history.  Scenes  which  would  niock  the  artist's  pen- 
cil are  of  daily  occurrence.  The  desolate  home,  with 
its  heart-broken  wife  and  mother,  with  her  pale  cheek 
channeled  with  tears  of  unutterable  woe,  as  she 
bends  weeping  over  the  drunken  wreck  of  her  youth's 
idol ;  the  child-group  shivering  in  the  blast  or  cling- 
ing to  that  mother,  as  they  moan  for  bread;  the 
orphan  turned  out,  with  no  friend  but  God,  into  the 
wide  world ;  youth  wrecked  and  palsied  with  prema- 
ture age ;  manhood  reeling  amid  the  ruins  of  mind 
and  moral  beauty,  the  sepulchre  of  a  thousand  hopes ; 
genius  driveling  in  idiocy  and  crumbling  into  ruin ; 
the  virtuous  and  noble-minded  turning  away  from 
truth  and  honor,  and  plunging  into  every  vice ;  the 
parent  and  citizen  wandering  away  from  a  home- 
heaven,  through  a  devious  and  dark  pilgrimage,  to  a 
dishonored  grave  ;  the  home-idol  shivered  and  broken, 
the  .altar  cast  down,  and  an  Eden  transformed  into  a 
hell;  childhood  and  innocence  thrust  out  from  the 
love-light  of  a  mother's  eye,  to  wallow  in  all  that  is 
low  and  vile ;  Poverty  and  Want  looking  with  pinch- 
ed and  piteous  gaze  upon  the  scanty  tribute  of  charity ; 
foul  and  festering  Vice,  with  sickly  and  bloated  fea- 
tures, leering  and  droolling  in  licentious  beastiality ; 
Madness,  with  fiery  eye  and  haggard  mien,  weeping 
and  wailing  and  cursing  in  the  rayless  night  of  intel- 
lectual chaos ;  Crime,  with  its  infernal  "ha!  ha!"  as 


XXV111  INTRODUCTION. 

it  stalks  forth  from  its  work  of  death,  with  its  red 
hand  dripping  with  the  hot  and  smoking  life-tide  of 
its  victim ; — these,  and  ten  thousand  other  combina- 
tions of  warp  and  woof,  are  woven  into  tales  of  won- 
drous intensity  and  power.  The  hovel,  the  dram 
shop,  the  subterranean  den,  and  the  mansion  of  fash- 
ion and  wealth,  have  all  furnished  the  material  for 
tales  of  startling  interest.  When  fiction  even  has 
called  up  its  weird  creations,  they  have  been  but 
copies  of  the  facts  already  transpired.  The  moral  is 
always  there.  Thus  poetry  and  romance  have  com- 
bined to  place  the  realities  of  two  opposing  principles 
in  striking  contrast.  Such  is  the  object  of  the  fol- 
lowing tale,  from  the  perusal  of  which  we  will  no 
longer  detain  the  kind  reader.  That  the  "  new  move- 
ment "  may  triumph,  and  the  dark  shadow  of  Intem- 
perance pass  away,  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  him  who 
has  thus  far  claimed  attention.  The  door  is  open, 
and  the  reader  can  go  in  and  examine  the  structure 
of  the  author':?  fabric  at  leisure. 


LADIES   IN   THE    "WOMEN'S   MOVEMENT.' 


MINNIE  HEBMOfl 


CHAPTER   I. 

A   MARKED   CHARACTER    INTRODUCED   TO   THE   READER. 

ON  one  of  the  coolest  days  of  the  autumn  of  18  , 
by  invitation,  we  visited,  for  the  purpose  of  lecturing, 
one  of  the  pleasantest  villages  in  southern  New- York. 

The  sun  was  far  down  in  an  unclouded  sky,  its 
beams  mellowing  in  the  blue  haze  which  curtained 
the  distant  hills,  and  lingering  like  a  smile  from  bliss 
upon  the  variegated  woodlands. 

Without  seeking  the  friend  who  had  in  vited  us  to 
enjoy  his  hospitality,  we  passed  through  the  village, 
and  turned  from  the  highway  into  the  fields,  and  up- 
ward to  where  a  picturesque  eminence  promised  a 
more  attractive  view  of  the  autumn  scene.  The 
paths  and  the  hollows  were  filled  with  the  rustling 
leaves,  the  faded  garniture  of  summer — and  yet  a 
more  beautiful  carpeting  than  art  ever  wove.  From 
beneath  a  leaning  maple,  we  turned  to  gaze  long 
upon  the  landscape  stretched  beneath  us.  The  woods 
upon  the  hills  were  draped  in  that  gorgeous  beauty 


32  MINNIE    HE.KHON. 

of  the  American  autumn,  a  sea  of  rustling  waves 
crested  with  golden  and  crimson  foam,  flecked  here 
and  there  with  the  dark  hue  of  the  evergreens.  The 
symmetrical  forms  of  the  maple  and  the  walnut  dotted 
the  farm  lands  of  the  husbandman  with  pyramids  of 
russet  and  flame-like  canvass. 

The  Susquehanna  wound  through  the  valley  and 
away  to  the  south,  glowing  and  shimmering  in  the 
sunbeams.  We  turned  away  from  that  which  had 
yielded  us  so  much  pleasure,  and  still  further  above 
us  saw  a  stranger,  evidently  enjoying  the  same  pros- 
pect. His  tall  form  stood  out  in  striking  relief  from 
its  background  of  distant  sky,  his  attitude  and  mien 
graceful  and  imposing,  as  with  head  bared  and  hat  in 
hand,  he  stood  with  folded  arms,  looking  down  upon 
the  valley.  As  we  stepped  out  from  under  the  low- 
hanging  branches,  the  rustling  leaves  attracted  bis 
attention.  He  returned  our  salutation  with  a  manner 
BO  easy  and  dignified,  that  we  at  once  recognized  one 
of  more  than  ordinary  mind  and  polish.  The  true 
gentleman  never  forgets  his  position  under  any  cir- 
cumstances, much  less  in  recognizing  and  returning 
the  courtesies  of  a  stranger. 

Passing  the  village  grave-yard,  where  the  white 
slabs  gleamed  in  the  setting  sun,  we  noticed  seven 
highly  finished  ones  standing  closely  together,  and 
the  same  name  chiseled  upon  all.  The  grass  towered 
rankly  upon  the  mounds,  and  the  mould  had  long 
gathered  at  the  base  of  the  marble.  The  mounds 
were  of  the  same  length,  thickly  strewn  with  the 


A    MARKED   CHARACTER.  33 

leaves  of  the  willow  which  dropped  its  boughs  until 
they  nearly  swept  the  ground.  As  we  emerged  from 
the  lane  leading  to  the  b'irial  grounds,  we  again  en- 
countered the  tall  stranger  of  the  hillside,  leaning 
with  a  sad  and  thoughtful  countenance  over  the  fence 
near  where  we  had  stood  by  the  seven  graves. 

The  afternoon  following,  while  standing  upon  the 
church  steps  with  a  friend,  awaiting  the  gathering  of 
the  people,  a  note  was  slipped  into  our  hand  by  a 
friend.  It  read  thus  : 

"  We  are  not  used  to  harsh  language  here  yet ;  —  bo 
guarded.  Hon.  Mr.  Fenton  will  hear  you.  He  is  a 
citizen  of  talent  and  influence,  and  we  wish  to  have 
him  in  our  Division  ;  but  he  is  a  drinking  man,  owns 
the  tavern,  and  is  extremely  sensitive.  Touch  him 
gently.  A  FRIEND." 

And  so  the  Hon.  Mr.  Fenton,  and  a  rumseller, 
would  hear  us.  And  must  we  hesitate  in  laying  bare 
the  iniquities  of  the  traffic,  because  a  gentleman  of 
wealth,  talent  and  standing  was  engaged  in  it  ? 
Thrusting  the  note  into  our  pocket,  we  determined  to 
take  our  own  course  —  appeal  kindly  to  men,  but 
boldly  and  truthfully  speak  of  the  wrong. 

A  sea  of  heads  was  before  us,  curiosity  drawing 
many  to  attend  the  long  talked  of  demonstration. 
Conspicuous  in  the  centre  of  the  audience,  his  keen 
grey  eye  scanning  the  speaker  with  a  stern  and  steady 
gaze,  sat  our  tall  acquaintance.  "  "That,"  whispered 


34  MINNIE    HEitMON. 

a  clergyman  at  our  side,  "is  the  Ron.  Mr.  Fentou. 
If  you  are  severe,  he  will  answer  you."  We  were 
satisfied  from  whence  the  note  of  advice. 

Careles*sly  we  commenced  our  remarks  upon  the 
prevalence  and  universal  spread  of  intemperance. 
Quick  answering  tears,  from  a  sad  looking  woman  on 
the  first  seat,  responded  to  the  truth  of  the  remarks 
made,  and  filled  our  own  heart  with  tears.  Warming 
as  the  interest  increased,  we  continued  :  "  In  the 
inild  sunlight  of  this  blessed  day,  we  look  over  your 
heads  and  out  through  the  raised  windows,  where 
your  kindred  are  at  rest  upon  the  kind  bosom  of  our 
common  mother.  We  know  not  the  history  of  this 
community,  but  the  destroyer  has  been  among  you. 
Undisturbed  by  our  voice,  the  sleepers  are  resting 
on  where  the  rank  grass  weaves  its  mat  over  their 
graves.  Wherever  the  living  carry  their  dead  the 
cold  arms  of  earth  have  been  rudely  opened  to  wrap 
the  victims  of  the  scourge.  Innocence,  manhood  and 
old  age;  the  strong,  the  beautiful,  the  loved,  and 
the  true,  have  alike  been  consigned  to  premature 
graves.  How  cruel  the  blows  which  crushed  from 
their  hearts,  life  and  its  throbbing  hopes !  The  kind 
marble  heralds  not  their  sad  histories ;  but  garnered 
in  kindred  hearts,  are  the  memories  of  wrongs  which 
over  ask  a  tribute  of  bitter  tears,  as  the  living  stand 
by  their  graves.  Have  no  circles  been  broken  in  this 
community  ?  Have  no  loved  ones  been  torn  away 
from  hearts  which  dripped  tear-drops  of  blood,  to  go 
down  in  darkness  to  their  graves?  And  no  bright 


A    MARKED   CHARACTER.  35 

resurrection  morn  to  burst  upon  then  long  night  of 
sleep  ?  Who  of  you  have  friends  in  that  old  yard, 
whom  you  feel  were  wrenched  away  from  heart  and 
home  by  torturing  inches,  and  worse  than  murdered? 
Is  there  a  parent  —  an  old  mother  —  a  broken-hearted 
wife  — a  sister  of  never  swerving  love  —  a  child  who 
has  no  parent  but  God  —  who  does  not  go  in  there  to 
weep  over  a  grave  where  Hope  never  smiles  and 
Faith  never  whispers  "  All  is  well  ?  "  Make  our  heart 
a  store-house  of  the  dark  records  of  your  history,  and 
from  this  desk  we  will  tread  the  grass-grown  alleys,  and 
here  and  there  lay  our  hands  upon  cold  and  silent  wit- 
nesses, proclaiming  in  the  sad  eloquence  of  enduring 
marble,  the  triumphs  of  the  common  scourge.  Here  is 
one,  and  there  another !  But  for  rum,  they  might  have 
sat  at  your  hearths  this  day.  And  who  slew  them  ? 
Is  there  no  hand  here  among  you  red  with  a  brother's 
blood  ?  Look  !  and  if  so,  turn  away  to  a  better  life, 
and  yield  no  more  incense  to  the  shrine  of  blood  !  " 

The  "  Hon.  Mr.  Fenton  "  sat  with  his  eye  upon  us 
as  we  proceeded,  his  chin  resting  upon  his  palm  as  ho 
leaned  upon  the  pew  before  him.  A  lone  tear  slowly 
gathered  on  the  lid,  and  coursing  down  his  cheek, 
dropped  upon  the  open  hand.  As  our  introduction 
ended,  he  involuntarily  raised  his  head  and  looked 
vjpon  his  hand,  as  though  blood  had  gathered  there  in 
judgment  against  him,  then  bowing  himself  upon  his 
hands,  he  remained  until  the  meeting  was  dismissed. 

As  we  passed  down  the  desk,  Mr.  Fenton  came 
boldly  forward  and  stopd  at  the  door.  The  audience 


36  MINNIE   HERMOX. 

were  instantly  hushed,  expecting  a  war  of  words  be- 
tween him  and  the  stranger.  Reaching  out,  he  clasped 
our  extended  hand  in  both  of  his,  and  stood,  with 
swimming  eyes,  silently  before  us.  We  knew  thero 
would  be  no  strife  between  us,  for  a  better  manhood 
gave  utterance  in  the  eye,  and  his  grasp  was  almost 
convulsive  in  its  energy. 

"  You  are  an  honest  man  ! "  passionately  exclaimed 
Mr.  Fenton.  "  You  have  uttered  the  truth  —  solemn, 
fearful  truth.  My  hands  are  red  with  more  than  a 
brother's  blood.  God  forgive  me  !  Let  me  tell  you 
where  they  sleep,  —  those  /  have  loved  and  lost !  " 

Mr.  Fenton  took  our  arm  within  his  own,  and  to- 
gether we  passed  into  the  yard  just  back  of  the  church. 
He  passed  by  the  seven  graves,  and  silently  looked 
down  upon  them,  while  his  broad  chest  heaved  with 
strong  emotion. 

"  There"  said  he,  with  wild  energy,  —  "  there  they 
are  —  all  —  all!  There  are  my  father  and  mother  j 
the  one  died  a  drunkard  and  the  other  broken-hearted. 
In  the  next  four  graves  are  my  —  my  boys.  Brave, 
noble  boys  they  were,  too,  as  ever  parent  loved.  In 
their  strong  manhood,  they  too,  died  drunkards! 
And  here  —  merciful  God !  at  my  feet,  is  my  injured, 
my  murdered  wife  !  "  and  kneeling  like  a  child,  and 
throwing  his  strong  arms  over  the  grave,  he  wept  as  a 
child  would  weep.  "  O !  if  God  can  forgive,  may 
the  last  of  a  once  happy  band  be  gathered  with  tliee 
at  last;  and  the  hand  which  wrought  thy  ruin  be 
washed  with  pardon  of  its  cruel  crime.  O,  what  a 


A  MARKED   CHARACTER.  37 

fearful  infatuation  has  rested  upon  me,"  he  continued, 
as  he  raised  himself  from  his  kneeling  posture.  "  I 
see  it  all  now.  Here  by  the  graves  of  my  kindred — • 
niy  all,  before  you,  sir,  and  these  people,  my  injured 
wife  in  Heaven,  and  God,  I  solemnly  swear  that  this 
hand  never  shall  again  extend  tJie  ruinous  cup  to  my 
fellow  man.  My  life  shall  be  spent,  so  far  as  it  is 
possible,  in  undoing  the  wrong  I  have  committed." 

In  the  clear  air  of  that  bright  autumn  afternoon,  a 
ehout,  free  and  full  witli  gladness,  went  up  from  the 
people  in  testimony  of  the  high  resolve.  Bonfires 
were  kindled  in  the  evening,  and  joy  beamed  upon 
each  countenance,  lit  up  by  the  glare  with  greater  in- 
tensity, as  the  blue  flame  of  the  burning  liquors  burst 
up  and  wreathed  and  hissed  with  the  red  ones  of  the 
burning  timbers. 

"  And  so  may  my  soul  burn  in  hell,  if  I  ever  har- 
bor the  cursed  poison  again  ! "  Startled  by  the  fierce 
energy  of  the  speaker,  we  turned,  to  find  Mr.  Fenton 
looking  upon  the  scene  with  a  pale  and  compressed 
lip. 


CHAPTEE   II. 

THE   MANUSCRIPT. 

OUR  host  was  early  astir,  every  move  character- 
ized by  a  new  and  more  hopeful  life.  Before  we  had 
arise/i,  all  the  machinery  of  drinking  had  been  re 
moved  from  the  bar,  and  citizens  were  already  gath- 
ered on  the  piazza,  in  earnest  conversation  upon  the 
events  of  the  previous  day. 

Mr.  Fenton  persisted  in  accompanying  us  across 
the  river,  talking  sadly  of  the  past  and  hopefully  of 
the  future.  "  At  parting,  he  laid  a  heavy  roll  of  pa- 
pers in  our  hands,  with  a  rapid  history  of  their  con- 
tents and  of  the  manner  in  which  they  came  into  his 
possession.  A  friend  of  his,  in  early  life,  became  in* 
temperate,  through  the  plotting  of  a  villain ;  and  in 
one  of  his  fits  of  madness,  turned  his  family  from  the 
door,  and  under  charge  of  murder,  was  confined  in 
prison,  awaiting  his  trial.  He  was  tried  and  con- 
demned, but  escaped  before  the  day  of  execution. 
This  manuscript,  the  labor  of  long  days  of  imprison- 
ment, was  handed  me  under  seal,  while  in  the  place, 
with  the  simple  injunction  that,  should  the  writer 
never  be  heard  of  again,  his  friend  should  make  such 
use  of  it  as  he  saw  fit.  You,"  said  Mr.  Fenton, 
"know  much  of  the  history  of  intemperance  and  its 


WALTER'S    MOTHER. 


T1II<:    MANUSCRIPT.  41 

terrible  ruin ;  but  yet,  the  within  may  furnish  you  with 
something  equally  as  interesting  as  that  you  have 
already  learned.  You  will  find  the  impress  of  no  or- 
dinary mind,  and  its  publication,  in  whole  or  in  part 
may  interest  others  as  well  as  yourself." 

The  writing  was  more  in  the  style  of  a  private 
diary  than  otherwise.  We  shall  give,  in  the  course 
of  our  history,  the  substance  of  the  matter,  occasion- 
ally transcribing  whole  chapters  as  we  find  them 
written. 

"  OLD   MEMORIES. 

"  The  ocean  of  life  may  present  a  calm,  unbroken 
surface  to  the  eye  —  the  very  picture  of  repose  ;  while 
beneath  the  dark  and  turbid  currents  are  surging  to 
and  fro,  black  and  angry,  as  they  toss  and  leap 
against  one  another. 

"  The  sky  may  smile  without  a  cloud,  as  its  blue 
depths  are  bathed  in  a  flood  of  sunshine  ;  and  yet  tho 
lightning  be  heating  its  red  bolts,  and  the  storm 
troops  marshaling  for  the  onset. 

"  The  human  countenance  may  be  as  calm  as  that 
ocean,  while  bitter  waters  are  welling  up  in  the  heart, 
as  bright  with  sunshine  as  that  sky  unclouded,  and  yet 
the  fierce  tempest  be  sweeping  across  the  soul,  or  the 
echoes  of  Sorrow's  wail  lingering  amid  the  ruins  of 
hopes  which  have  been  destroyed.  The  wildest  im- 
agery of  fiction  is  more  than  surpassed  by  the  reali- 
ties of  the  '  fitful  fever '  which  we  treat  so  lightly, 
and  yet  so  madly  cling  to  at  its  ending. 


42  MINNIE   HERMON. 

"  "Wliile  carelessl}7  touching  my  guitar,  the  fingers 
unconsciously  swept  the  strings  tc  the  measure  of  an 
old  and  sacred  air,  holy  with  the  inseparable  associa- 
tions of  scenes  that  never  die  !  That  touch  was  like 
the  gush  of  long  pent-up  waters,  and  the  flood  of  other 
days  is  again  rushing  through  the  soul,  a  mingled  tide 
of  sweet  and  bitter  currents,  now  bathed  with  sun- 
light, and  again  dark  with  gloom. 

'•'  I  drop  the  guitar  and  gaze  long  and  dreamily 
into  the  fire,  watching  the  vision  of  years  as  they 
troop  by.  I  am  young  again  !  Ah  !  but  't  was  a 
dream,  for  the  growl  of  my  dog  has  dispelled  the  illu- 
sion, and  I  awake  to  find  a  tear  on  my  lids,  from 
which  bright  beams  of  silver  are  dancing  to  the  wa- 
ning embers  in  the  grate.  That  tear  has  escaped 
from  a  sacred  fount,  sealed  long  and  long  ago. 

"  I  touch  the  strings  again.  The  thoughts  flow  calm- 
er, and  a  strong  impulse  urges  me  to  write.  And 
why  should  I  profane  the  sanctuary  where  early  hopes 
and  dreams  are  buried  ?  Some  will  sneer  at  the  rev- 
elation. And  yet  to  see  the  words  as  they  are  traced 
upon  the  sheet,  will  be  like  looking  on  the  faces  of 
those  long  since  at  rest.  There 4s  no  one  here  to  see 
me  if  I  weep  ;  and  these  weather-beaten  cheeks  will 
welcome  a  shower  from  the  heart's  flood,  which  has 
been  so  unexpectedly  stirred  to  its  earlier  depths. 

"  My  manhood's  hopes  have  gone  out  in  darkest 
night,  and  infamy  rests  upon  the  once  proud  and  untar- 
nished name  of  Walter  Brayton.  An  evil  destiny  has 
followed  me  and  I  am  now  incarcerated  in  a  dungeon, 


THE   MANUSCRIPT.  43 

through  the  success  of  as  foul  a  plot  as  human  fiends 
ever  conceived,  to  accomplish  another's  ruin.  The 
world  cares  not  for  one  whose  career  has  ended  so 
ignominiously,  and  it  may  never  see  my  name  vindi- 
cated from  the  stigma  which  now  so  unjustly  rests 
upon  it.  The  fickle  populace  has  forgot  its  idol,  and 
none  but  her  whom  I  have  most  deeply  injured  stands 
by  my  side,  while  all  else  has  been  beaten  down  by 
the  storm  which  has  come  upon  me.  She  clings  to 
me  with  a  devotion  which  no  destiny,  however  dark, 
can  wrench  away.  A  '  life  history  '  may  never  be 
seen  by  other  eyes  than  my  own,  if  ever  completed  ; 
but  the  long  days  will  speed  on  lighter  wing,  even 
while  I  am  tracing  dark  chapters  in  my  cell.  My 
crushed  manhood's  tears  shall  attest  the  truth  of  what 
I  shall  write,  eloquent,  it  may  be,  in  warning  to  who- 
ever may  trace  these  lines,  to  shun  a  course  which 
has  so  trodden  down  as  proud  a  spirit  and  aspiring 
ambition  as  ever  throbbed  in  the  bosom  of  early 
manhood. 

"  "When  eighteen  years  of  age,  my  father  removed 
from  New  Jersey,  to  a  small  and  retired  country 
settlement  in  one  of  the  northern  counties  of  New 
York.  He  had  once  been  a  merchant  of  business  and 
standing  —  had  mingled  in  the  highest  commercial 
circles,  and  I  never  could  divine  the  reason  of  his  lo- 
cating in  such  a  section  of  the  country. 

"There  are  faint  remembrances  of  my  early  home. 
There  is  a  vague,  shadowy  outline  of  a  dark  old 
dwelling,  now  lingering  in  my  mind.  All  is  dim. 


44  MINNIE    FTEKMON. 

misty,  uncertain.  I  can  hardly  trace  those  outlines  at 
this  late  day,  for  the  foot-prints  of  years  have  gone 
over  them.  The  impressions  seem  half  dreams  and 
half  realities.  The  remembrance  is  gloomy,  withal, 
arid  as  I  wander  back,  I  shrink  involuntarily  at  the 
spectral  shadows  which  people  and  throng  around 
that  dream-land  tenement. 

"  There  was  an  old  room,  with  high,  sombre  walls, 
and  deep  windows,  over  which  hung  rich,  heavy  cur- 
tains, nearly  shutting  out  the  light  'of  day.  Dark, 
massive  chairs  and  sofas  stood  against  the  walls.  And 
I  remember  that  I  dreaded  the  mirror  which  gave 
back  the  spectral  outlines  of  the  old  nurse,  and  step- 
ped back  with  a  noiseless  tread  to  the  half-opened 
door.  Once  I  looked  out  of  those  windows  —  only 
once.  As  I  parted  the  faded  curtains,  the  net-work 
of  cobwebs  brought  down  a  cloud  of  the  black 
and  ugly  looking  creatures,  and  drove  me  away  in  a 
fright. 

"  But  there  was  one  room  which  I  remember  with 
more  dread  than  I  do  the  old  parlor.  It  was  across 
the  hall,  and  I  never  saw  the  light  of  day  break  in 
upon  its  darkness  but  once.  I  was  a  child,  and 
through  the  open  door  crept  in  and  across  to  the 
window.  I  then  clambered  upon  the  sill,  and  with 
childish  curiosity,  pulled  aside  the  curtains.  Oh, 
what  a  flood  of  warm,  pure  sunshine  gushed  into  the 
dark  place ;  I  remember  it  distinctly,  and  how  red 
and  beautiful  the  sun  itself  appeared  just  above  the 
sea  of  roofs  !  I  clapped  my  tiny  hands  and  shouted 


THE   MANr  SCRIPT.  4-5 

with  glee,  upon  which  the  old  nurse  stole  up  behind 
me,  and  bore  me  away  to  the  kitchen. 

"  I  can  remember  but  one  more  visit  to  that  room. 
Everything  wore  a  mysterious  and  saddened  aspect. 
People  trod  lightly  over  the  floor,  and  spoke  in 
whispers.  I  watched  all  with  sobered  interest.  At 
last  an  old  lady  friend  took  me  in  her  arms  and  car- 
ried me  in.  A  lamp  burned  dimly  in  the  gloom, 
and  jthe  old  clock  ticked  with  painful  distinctness  in 
the  hushed  apartment. 

"  The  nurse  then  raised  me  np,  and  held  me  where  I 
could  look  upon  the  bed.  As  I  looked  down  with  a 
shrinking  fear,  I  beheld  a  pale,  calm  face,  the  eyes 
closed  as  if  in  slumber,  but  oh,  how  still !  A  dread 
crept  over  me  — the  first  startling  knowledge  of  death. 
The  nurse  laid  my  hand  upon  the  cheek  —  'twas  cold 
—  how  cold !  and  as  that  strange  chill  crept  back  to 
my  child-heart,  I  wept.  I  felt  that  something  sad 
and  sorrowful  had  taken  place ;  that  some  one  whom 
I  loved  had  gone  —  some  friend  —  and  the  young  heart 
welled  up  its  flood  of  unchecked  grief.  ...  A 
mother  had  gone  to  her  rest ! 

"  I  remember  but  one  place  with  pleasure  in  that  old 
dwelling.  It  was  where  the  sun  shone  brightly,  and 
the  vines  crept  thickly  over  the  lattice-work.  As  I 
look  back  upon  that  obscure  mirror  of  childhood,  I 
see  a  happy  throng,  and  merry  sport  they  had.  But 
the  most  hallowed  dream  of  all,  is  that  of  a  sad,  kind 
face,  which  hung  over  me  and  touched  mine  so  ten- 
derly. I  know  that  she  had  a  low,  silvery  voice,  for 


4:6  MINNIE   HERMON. 

it  fell  soothingly  upon  my  childish  fears  and  pains, 
and  its  tender  echoes  have  never  died  away  in  my 
heart.  I  have  heard  no  such  tones  since,  save  as  they 

float  up  and  linger  on  the  tide  of  memory. The 

voice  of  a  MOTHER  speaks  in  those  echoes  ! 

"  But  how  my  pen  has  wandered  under  the  influence 
of  these  old  memories  !  Ah,  well !  I  have  not  talked 
of  these  things  before  in  long  years,  and  my  old  heart 
yearns  for  sympathy.  « 

"After  our  settlement  in  the  new  home,  I  became  a 
tall,  thoughtful  boy.  Care  had  written  deep  lines 
upon  my  father's  face,  and  he  said  but  little.  Grief, 
too,  had  furrowed  his  features  deeply,  and  a  silvery 
white  was  fast  mingling  with  his  locks  of  jet  black. 
But  he  was  cold,  stern,  passionless,  unchanging. 

"  I  never  saw  my  father  manifest  the  least  emotion 
but  once.  As  I  entered  the  parlor  one  morning,  he 
was  standing  before  a  portrait  that  I  had  loved  from 
my  childhood.  My  step  aroused  him,  and  as  he 
turned,  I  saw  a  tear  upon  either  cheek.  He  passed 
out  of  the  room,  and  I  took  his  place  before  the  pic- 
ture, and  stood  looking  dreamily  until  my  own  cheeks 

were  wet  with  tears. 1  wept  before  the  shadow 

of  a  substance  which  had  forever  passed  away. 

"  Bitter  knowledge  came  to  me  as  I  arrived  at  young 
manhood.  My  father  had  been  a  drunkard ;  my 
mother  had  been  ill-treated  by  the  husband  of  her 
youth,  and  had  died  broken-hearted.  My  love  for  her 
intensified  as  I  learned  the  painful  history,  and  I 
looked  still  more  fondly  upon  that  picture  in  the  par- 


THE   MANUSCKI1T.  47 

lor,  and  thought  that,  had  I  been  a  man  while  she 
was  living,  I  could  have  been  her  protector. 

"  It  was  by  accident  that  I  learned  this  sad  history 
of  wrong  and  neglect  in  him  whom  I  had  so  loved 
as  my  father.  In  a  drawer  of  old  papers  I  found  a 
letter.  From  a  careless  glance  at  the  commence- 
ment, my  attention  became  riveted,  and  I  read  with 
a  throbbing  heart  until,  through  the  blinding  tears, 
I  saw  at  the  bottom  my  own  mother's  name.  The 
letter  had  evidently  been  written  at  different  dates, 
and  was  blotted  with  tears. 

" '  MY  SISTEK  :  —  Crushed  and  broken  beneath  the 
ruins  of  all  my  early  hopes,  I  turn  to  you  to  ask  youi 
forgiveness,  and  to  pour  into  your  too  kind  bosom 
the  sorrows  that  overwhelm  me.  My  heart  aches — 
aches  with  its  knowledge  of  blighted  hopes,  and  of 
the  fearful  and  bitter  truths  which  have  so  thickly 
come  upon  me  :  my  brain  aches  and  turns  almost  to 
madness,  as  the  history  of  a  year  sweeps  over  me. 
Oh,  Martha  !  how  I  long  to  die  —  to  lie  down  in  the 
cold  and  quiet  rest  of  the  grave ! 

"  '  Do  you  remember,  Martha,  the  night  before  I 
was  married,  what  you  said  to  me  a»  we  stood  under 
the  old  elrn  in  the  garden  ?  —  and  how  bitterly  I  spoke 
and  repelled  the  warning  you  whispered  to  me  in 
tears  ?  You  would  forgive  me,  I  know  you  would, 
were  you  to  see  me  now.  My  poor  heart  bleeds  at 
every  pore ;  my  cheek  has  faded  and  fallen  away  ,* 
B 


48  MINNIE    HKRMON. 

and  you  would  not  recognize  in  this  ghastly  wreck 
Uie  wayward  girl  of  our  dear  old  home. 

"All  is  dark.  Not  a  ray  of  hope  on  earth.  I  weep 
over  my  sleeping  babes  ;  but  I  must  die.  God  pro- 
tect them. 

.     .     .     "  '  That  bright  future,  Martha,  is  all  gloom 

—  black,  black  as  night.  I  have  wept,  and  prayed, 
and  besought.  He  mocks  me.  Great  God  !  Martha, 
he  mocks  me  in  his  drunken  madness !  He  wildly 
laughs  as  I  weep.  To-day,  I  held  our  babe  to  him 
for  a  caress  ;  he  cruelly  struck  the  innocent  sleeper 
with  his  hand ! 

"  '  I  am  dying,  Martha !  Do  not  weep  ;  I  long  for 
rest.  God  will  protect  my  babe.  The  consumption 
of  sorrow  and  suffering  is  wasting  my  weary  heart. 

" '  Our  neighbors  are  kind,  or  we  should  suffer. 
Your  ever  kind  heart  will  bleed  when  you  know  that 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  Wilder  is  in  want.  But  I 
tell  it  to  warn  you.  Never,  as  you  hope  for  peace  on 
earth,  trust  the  man  who  drinks. 

.  .  "  '  Frederick  appears  utterly  indifferent.  He 
spends  his  nights  principally  at  the  tavern,  and  is 
sullen  when  at  home.  Oh,  it  is  hard  to  die  thus.  .  . 
My  cup  overflows.  Would  to  God  that  I  had  died 
when  rny  mother  died !  Frederick  came  in  this  eve- 
ning at  the  earnest  appeal  of  our  friends.  How 
changed  he  is,  as  well  as  myself!  He  spoke  bitterly 
to  me,  and  demanded  my  wedding  jewels  —  he  had 


THE    MANUSCRIPT.  49 

gambled,  and  lost !  He  attempted  to  take  the  beau- 
tiful Bible  our  mother  gave  me,  and  as  I  lay  iny  hand 
upon  it  in  mute  appeal,  he  —  oh,  Martha !  —  he  struck 

me  a  heavy  blow Consciousness  has  re 

turned,  and  the  Bible  is  gone!     .     .     .     1^  shall  die 

to-night.     God  protect  the  boy 

"  '  ELLEN.' 

"  I  mingled  my  own  bitter  tears  with  those  that  had 
long  since  become  dry  upon  the  blotted  page,  and 
went  forth  into  the  world  with  my  boy-bosom  throb- 
bing  with  the  hate  of  manhood  against  the  curse  which 
had  killed  my  mother." 


CHAPTER   III. 

MINNIE   HEKMON; 

"  FOR  along  time  after  removing  to  Oakvale,  1  found 
no  kindred  spirit  with  which  to  commune.  My 
father  was  reserved,  seldom  smiled,  or  addressed  a 
pleasant  word  to  his  only  child. 

"  My  young  and  impetuous  nature  must  find  employ- 
ment in  hunting.  Day  after  day  for  weeks  at  a  time, 
with  fishing  rod  or  gun,  I  ranged  the  dense  forests 
which  stretched  away  for  miles  in  the  immediate  vi- 
cinity of  Oakvale.  I  had  found  every  overhanging 
crag,  every  waterfall  and  dark  ravine,  and  threaded 
every  stream.  Thus  engaged,  I  had  not  noticed  the 
arrival  of  strangers  in  the  village,  and  should  have 
cared  but  little  if  I  had. 

"  The  winter  somewhat  restrained  my  sports,  but, 
with  the  early  spring,  I  was  abroad  again  with  dog 
and  gun.  Immediately  back  of  Oakvale  was  a  moun- 
tain stream,  which  plunged  down  a  succession  of  falls 
into  a  deep,  dark  chasm,  and  rolled  away  through 
the  valley.  Recent  rains  had  raised  it  to  a  swollen 
and  angry  tide,  the  cascades  presenting  one  unbroken 
sheet  of  spray  and  foam.  Nearly  half  way  up  tho 
first  fall  was  a  wide,  projecting  mass  of  rock,  over- 
hanging the  abyss  so  far  that  the  spectator  could  ob- 
tain a  complete  view  of  the  whole  gorge  above,  un- 


MINNIE   HERMON.  51 

obstructed  by  the  dense  growth  of  overhanging  spruce. 
The  path  to  this  landing  place  was  through  a  wide 
fissure  in  the  rocks,  the  rugged  masses  and  dark  ever- 
greens rising  upon  either  side  until  the  sunbeams 
were  shut  entirely  out.  From  this  opening  a  circui- 
tous and  narrow  path  wound  to  the  foot  of  the 
mountain. 

"From  early  morn  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  I  had 
followed  a  deer  with  ill  success.  Thrice  had  he  taken 
to  the  river,  across  which  I  had  followed  him,  until  I 
was  wet,  weary  and  hungry.  The  dog  did  not  close 
np  with  rigor,  or  the  sport  might  have  been  soon 
ended.  The  deer  at  last  crossed  through  the  village 
and  entered  the  river  at  the  base  of  the  mountain. 
Unleashing  a  fresh  dog  at  home,  I  took  the  ferry  and 
followed,  sure  of  soon  putting  an  end  to  the  work. 
The  dog  drove  the  chase  so  closely  that  he  entered 
the  path  to  the  table  rock,  and  struggled  with  despe- 
rate vigor  up  the  steep  ascent.  As  he  entered  the 
rocky  path  I  felt  sure  of  him,  for  there  was  no  egress 
but  into  the  foaming  basin  beneath. 

"  The  more  rapid  baying  of  the  hound  put  new  vigoi 
into  my  weary  steps,  and  I  hurried  forward.  Enter- 
ing the  defile,  I  found  the  stag  at  bay,  and  the  dog 
vainly  attempting  to  reach  him.  Beyond  and  imme- 
diately upon  the  tall  rock,  over  the  chasm,  was  an 
apparition,  so  unexpected  and  startling,  that  my  steps 
were  fastened  to  the  rock,  and  I  looked  in  utter  be- 
wilderment, scarcely  knowing  whether  it  was  real  or 
imaginary  Slightly  leaning  forward,  with  handa 


52  MINNIE    I-IKKMON. 

clasped  and  lips  parted,  and  with  a  countenance  of 
deathly  paleness,  stood  the  loveliest  female  figure  I 
had  ever  beheld.  She  was  beautiful  in  her  terror  — 
her  hair  hanging  in  heavy  masses  as  it  had  fallen  from 
its  fastenings  upon  her  exquisitely  arched  neck.  A 
noble  Newfoundland  stood  bristling  and  growling  be- 
fore her.  At  the  instant  the  old  dog  came  up,  and 
with  a  fierce  yell  sprang  at  the  stag,  the  latter  turn- 
ing upon  his  heels  like  lightning,  and  darting  for  the 
rock  where  the  female  stood. 

"  '  Down — down  on  your  face  ! '  I  screamed  ;  but 
he  lowered  his  antlers,  and,  like  an  arrow,  shot  over 
into  the  boiling  gulf,  carrying  stranger,  dogs,  and  all 
with  him.  A  shriek  carne  up  distinctly  above  the 
roar  of  the  waters,  and  I  reached  out  to  grasp  the  rock 
for  support.  As  quickly  I  became  strangely  calm 
again,  and  rushed  to  the  brink  with  a  sickening  sen- 
sation. My  own  dog  and  the  deer  were  swimming 
in  company  down  the  swift  current,  but  the  New- 
foundler,  with  the  shoulders  of  his  insensible  mistress 
in  his  grasp,  was  swimming  about  as  if  at  a  loss 
where  to  strike  out.  Leaning  over  the  rock,  I  swung 
my  hat  and  shouted  until  the  dog  heard  me,  and  with 
little  hope  of  being  understood,  I  urged  him  down  the 
stream.  The  noble  brute  understood  me,  and  struck 
out  into  the  current.  Reckless  of  life  or  limb,  1 
turned  and  ran  to  the  foot  of  the  precipice,  reaching 
the  bend  in  the  river  just  as  the  nearly  exhausted 
dog  and  his  burden  swept  around  the  point.  He  had 
exhausted  himself  in  stemming  the  tide  in  the  attempt 


MLVNJIC    IIERMON.  53 

to  reach  the  shore ;  and  as  he  shot  past,  he  turned 
upon  me  an  eye  whose  strangely  sad  intelligence 
spoke  mutely  the  language  of  despair.  Leaping  into 
the  current,  I  struck  out,  and  soon  reached  the  dog 
and  his  prize,  and  after  beating  the  current  unti 
nearly  despairing,  succeeded  in  reaching  the  shore. 

"  It  was  a  long  time  before  life  letnrned  to  the  insen- 
sible form  of  the  beautiful  stranger ;  but  she  was  a 
prize  worth  saving !  She  was  the  only  child  of  a 
middle-aged  man,  who  had  just  moved  into  the  vil- 
lage, with  the  remains  of  a  broken  fortune.  Her  his- 
tory had  been  a  sad  one,  as  had  mine  ;  and  our  spirits, 
kindred  in  misfortunes,  craved  each  other's  compan- 
ionship. 

"  A  dark  tempter  had  wrought  the  ruin  of  Mr.  Her- 
inon,  and  his  wife  had  gone  to  her  grave  in  the 
midst  of  the  desolation.  But  like  a  star  gleaming 
above  the  clouds  of  the  storm,  was  the  faith  and  de- 
votion of  the  daughter. 

"Minnie  Herman  was  just  budding  into  woman 
hood,  and  one  of  the  most  beautiful  creatures  of 
female  purity  and  loveliness  it  had  ever  been  my  for- 
tune to  become  acquainted  with.  She  was  as  gentle 
as  a  midsummer's  breath,  and  as  pure  and  lovely  as 
that  midsummer's  flowers :  and  yet,  she  was  a  rock 
amid  the  wrecked  fortunes  of  her  father.  Her  spirit 
stood  proudly  up,  and  with  that  strange  energy  pecu- 
liar to  woman  under  such  circumstances,  looked 
calmly  upon  the  storm,  while  the  spirit  of  the  strong 
man  bowed  to  the  earth. 


54:  MINNIE  HF;RMON. 

"  Minnie  possessed  every  virtue  which  sheds  a  lustre 
upon  the  character  of  woman.  She  was  not  wild  or 
wayward;  —  a  tinge  of  sadness  mingled  with  the 
lovely  calmness  of  her  countenance  ;  her  very  motion, 
and  look,  and  tone,  were  calm,  falling  upon  all  around 
like  mellow  sunlight.  All  loved  Minnie  llermon. 

"  I  loved  her  with  the  intense,  idolatrous  devotion  of 
youth.  Our  natures  were  similar  ;  our  histories,  too, 
were  much  the  same  ;  and  a  feeling  of  common  sym- 
pathy seemed  to  draw  our  hearts  into  closer  com- 
munion the  more  we  learned  of  each  other's  history. 
Each  turned  with  sadness  from  the  past,  for  we  both 
had  a  drunken  father,  and  both  had  lost  a  mother. 

"  We  were  happy.  The  old  woods  stretched  down 
the  mountain  side  to  the  outskirts  of  the  village ; 
streams  leaped  and  danced  to  the  valley's  bed,  and 
then  babbled  onward  to  the  river.  Many  a  wild 
nook  was  hidden  among  the  mountains,  and  there  we 
rambled  and  dreamed,  with  nature  around  us. 

"  Not  a  word  had  ever  passed  our  lips  of  love  /  and 
yet  each  heart  knew  all.  Even  as  we  watched  the 
gliding  streams,  or  the  sunlight  as  it  faded  out  over 
the  hills,  hearts  conversed  while  lips  moved  not ;  and 
the  warp  and  woof  of  a  holy  tie  were  weaving  into 
our  destinies. 

"  Minnie  was  no  ordinaiy  woman.  Her  mind  had 
suffered  nothing  from  the  education  of  so  called  fash- 
ionable life  :  its  native  —  in  some  respects  more  than 
masculine  —  strength  was  unimpaired.  The  circum- 
stances of  her  fathers  failure  had  brought  out  all  the 


MINNIE   AND   WALTER. 


MINNIE   HEKMON.  57 

energies  of  her  character,  by  thro  wing  her  back  upon 
her  own  resources.  She  had  improved  all  her  advan- 
tages, and  still  retained  the  original  nobleness  and 
purity  of  her  nature. 

"  And  thus  we  spent  some  of  our  brightest  years, 
dreaming  together  as  we  watched  the  drifting  of  the 
summer  clouds,  which  were  mirrored  in  the  bosom 
of  the  lake  which  slept  among  the  hills. 

"  Dreams  are  like  clouds !  —  a  cloud  was  drifting 

ovoi  our  sky,  surcharged  with  a  bitter  storm." 
B*  3 


CHAPTER   IV. 

A   NEW   PROJECT. 

"  THE  business  of  the  little  village  was  increasing 
and  it  was  talked  of  that  the  little  community  needed 
a  tavern  :  its  business  interests  required  such  an  '  ac- 
commodation,' it  was  thought.  And  so  the  matter 
was  gravely  discussed  ;  and  as  Mr.  Hermon  seemed 
to  be  best  located  for  the  accommodation  of '  the  pub- 
lic,' he  was  urged  to  open  a  tavern.  Of  course  rum 
must  be  sold ;  for,  at  that  day,  a  tavern  could  not 
have  been  kept  without  it.  That  fatal  idea  has  filled 
a  world  with  dead  men's  bones. 

"  I  had  not  yet  heard  of  the  project  on  foot.  On 
entering  the  dwelling  of  Hermon  one  evening,  I  found 
Minnie  in  tears.  Her  eyes  were  red  and  swollen  with 
weeping,  and  long,  convulsive  sobs  were  struggling 
for  utterance.  I  was  startled,  but  soon  learned  the 
cause  of  her  trouble,  for  she  told  me  all. 

"  The  remembrance  of  the  past  swept  over  her  like 
the  shadow  of  gloom,  and  she  shrank  from  the  dark- 
ened future.  Her  father  had  that  evening  informed 
her  of  the  new  project,  and  of  his  determination  to 
carry  it  out. 

"  I.  saw  it  all  at  a  glance.  1  not  only  saw  the  troub- 
les which  were  thickening  over  the  head  of  Minnie, 


A   NEW   PEOJECT.  59 

but  felt  their  malign  influence  sweeping  across  my 
own  sky.  A  presentiment  of  swift-coming  evil  dark- 
ened in  the  heart,  as  my  mind  dwelt  with  painful  in- 
tensity upon  the  history  of  my  own  mother  and  her 
unhappy  death. 

"At  the  close  of  the  last  section,  I  spoke  to  the  read- 
er of  a  cloud  which  was  fast  drifting  across  the  sky 
of  Minnie  Hermon  and  myself.  I  had  no  definite 
conception  of  what  that  cloud  would  be,  yet  a  feel- 
ing of  dread  came  over  me.  I  felt  its  approach.  lt.G 
shadow  seemed  to  fall  into  my  pathway,  and  I  looked 
for  the  coming  of  some  bitter  trouble.  I  always  be- 
lieved in  presentiments,  and  the  darkest  one  of  my 
life  warned  me  of  some  approaching  trial. 

"At  the  close  of  a  spring  day,  I  wandered  up  the 
mountain  to  the  accustomed  retreat ;  but  the  golden 
sunbeams  faded  out  one  by  one,  and  Minnie  came  not. 
That  same  foreboding  of  evil  came  over  me  again, 
until  the  music  of  the  waterfall  murmured  with  a  tone 
of  sadness,  and  the  low  breathings  of  the  old  forest 
were  like  sighs  in  the  evening  breeze. 

"  I  returned  to  the  village  and  sought  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Hermon.  I  found  him  in  company  with  my 
father  and  several  other  of  the  more  prominent  citi- 
zens of  the  place,  busily  discussing  some  matter  in  tho 
parlor. 

"  '  It  will  be  worth  a  hundred  dollars  a  year  to  the 
place,'  remarked  our  merchant,  as  I  entered. 

"  'And  besides,  be  a  great  accommodation  to  the 
traveling  public,'  continued  Deacon  Smith. 


60  MINNIE  HEKMON. 

"  *  It  will  bring  a  great  deal  of  business  to  the  place,' 
lisped  a  young  lawyer,  who  had  just  hung  out  hia 
shingle  in  the  village. 

"  '  .Not  only  that,  but  it  will  make  business  right 
here  amongst  us,'  said  the  doctor,  a  man  of  much 
talent,  and  beloved  by  all  with  whom  he  associated 

"  '  We  can  then  hold  our  general  parades  here,'  re- 
marked Colonel  James,  and  his  eyes  twinkled  at  the 
idea  of  his  appearance  in  epaulettes  in  his  own  com- 
munity. 

"  '  Farmers  from  the  country  will  always  find  it  a 
convenient  stopping-place  to  stop  when  here  to  trade, 
or  to  get  their  milling  done,'  said  a  young  farmer  of 
wealth,  who  lived  some  three  miles  out  of  the  village. 

"  *  The  thing  will  give  us  a  reputation  abroad,'  con- 
tinued my  father,  as  the  party  all  left  to  continue  the 
discussion  of  this  new  plan  at  the  store. 

"  "What  this  new  project  might  be,  which  met  with 
such  cordial  approbation  from  the  leading  men  in  the 
village,  I  had  not  learned. 

"As  the  company  passed  out,  Minnie  entered  the 
room  from  an  opposite  direction.  She  met  my  usual 
greeting  with  a  strange  and  embarrassing  silence.  1 
urged  her  to  explain,  when  she  only  answered  with  a 
fresh  burst  of  grief. 

"  She  wept  herself  into  calmness,  and  then  revealed 
to  me  the  cause  of  her  sorrows. 

"The  subject  of  the  discussion  in  the  parlor  was  ex- 
plained, and  I  at  once  saw  the  nature  of  the  cloud 
which  hung  ominously  in  our  sky.  A  faint,  sickening 


A   NEW   PROJECT.  63 

sensation  crept  to  my  heart  while  I  listened  to  the 
footfalls  of  the  tempter  which  was  to  transform  our 
Eden  into  a  realm  of  darkness.  That  tempter  as- 
sumed no  definite  shape  to  my  inexperienced  mind. 
I  saw  nothing  clearly,  tut  yet  I  shuddered  at  Minnie's 
revelation.  A  low  hiss  murmured  upon  my  ear,  and 
a  sound  of  demoniac  laughter  audibly  started  me 
from  my  chair.  I  involuntarily  turned,  but  nothing 
but  the  pure  moonlight  beamed  in  at  the  window. 

"  "Why  is  it  that  the  approach  of  some  evil  is  so 
fitartingly  foreshadowed  ? 

"A  TAVERN  was  to  be  opened  in  the  village.  Thia 
was  the  new  project,  and  its  necessity  was  urged  by 
nearly  all  the  inhabitants,  in  such  kind  of  reasoning 
as  was  heard  at  the  house  of  Ilermon.  A  public 
house  was  needed,  said  such  people,  and  as  Mr.  Her 
mon  was  the  best  situated  to  open  one,  his  house  was 
hit  upon  for  the  tavern.  Though  I  spoke  words  of 
cheer  to  Minnie,  she  could  not  smile,  and  there  was  a 
weight  at  my  own  heart,  which  gave  the  lie  as  they 
fell.  She  looked  upon  the  project  as  the  very  foun- 
tain head  of  unutterable  woe  to  her  and  hers.  I  re- 
marked, against  my  own  convictions,  that  all  might 
be  well,  but  she  solemnly  answered  : 

" <  Walter,  you  do  not  know  all  that  I  know  of  theso 
taverns.  I  have  seen  my  father  leave  his  home  and 
spend  his  time  and  money  there,  in  the  dead  of  win- 
ter, and  poverty  and  want  close  around  our  hearth- 
side,  until  my  own  sunny  childhood  has  been 
crushed,  and  the  mother  of  my  idolatry  grew  palo 


62  MINNIE   HERMON. 

and  emaciated  for  the  want  of  fuel  and  bread !  Oh, 
God  !  it  is  horrible  to  think  of.  I  could  have  coined 
my  young  blood  to  have  warmed  and  fed  —  to  have 
saved  her.  I  saw  her  thin  and  staggering  form  foiled 
to  the  hearth  by  —  my  father's  hand!  Do  you  see 
this  ? '  and  she  pointed  to  a  broad  scar  on  the  back 
of  her  head.  '  The  same  hand  and  the  same  weapon 
laid  me  senseless  as  I  raised  my  child-hands  to  save 
my  mother.  And  yet,  a  kinder  father  or  happier 
home  child  never  knew,  than  I  once  had.  My  heart 
burns  within  me  until  I  well-nigh  go  mad,  as  the  deep- 
rooted  hatred  against  the  cause  of  all  our  misery  is 
aroused  anew  at  the  mention  of  a  tavern.  I  have 
starved,  Walter —  aye  —  starved  for  the  want  of  bread. 
I  have  waded  the  cold  winter  drifts  until  my  very 
heart  was  chilled  to  its  centre,  and  then  been  laughed 
at  by  the  crowd  assembled.  Pinched  with  cold  and 
hunger,  I  have  begged  for  a  wasting  mother.  That 
mother  died  in  a  hovel,  and  was  buried  as  a  pauper, 
— the  very  fingers  of  death  robbed  of  a  wedding-ring 
wherewith  to  purchase  rum  !  The  tavern  did  it  all. 
May  God's  curse  rest  upon  them  !  ' 

"  Minnie  bowed  her  face  in  her  hands,  and  wept 
long  and  bitterly.  I  thought  of  my  own  mother,  and 
of  the  letter  which  so  fearfully  revealed  her  sad  his- 
tory, and  mingled  my  own  tears  with  hers. 

"  Late  at  night,  I  returned  with  a  heavy  heart  to 
my  father's  house. 

"The  next  morning,  I  asked  my  father  what  it  was 
which  he  and  his  friends  were  so  earnestly  talking 


A   NEW    PROJECT.  63 

about  at  Mr.  Hern  ion's.  There  was  a  slight  flush 
upon  his  cheek  as  he  looked  me  in  the  eye,  and  ab- 
ruptly answered, 

"  'A  tavern,  sir  ! ' 

"  That  '  sir,'  stung  me.  The  tone  and  the  look  wera 
somewhat  startling.  I  at  once  saw  that  it  was  a  mat- 
ter which  he  did  not  wish  to  talk  with  me  about ;  but 
I  became  emboldened,  and  determined  to  discounte- 
nance the  project,  though  all  the  magnates  of  the  vil- 
lage should  favor  it.  1  spoke  confusedly,  yet  with  all 
the  impetuous  earnestness  of  youth.  I  felt  that  I  was 
right.  I  dared  to  denounce  taverns  as  a  curse  —  as 
places  where  men  were  made  to  neglect  and  abuse 
their  own  families  and  disgrace  themselves. 

"  I  had  unthinkingly  touched  a  tender  spot,  and  his 
black  eye  kindled  and  flashed  as  he  bent  his  full  gazo 
upon  me.  There  was  a  paleness  about  his  lips,  and 
he  breathed  huskily  through  his  clenched  teeth,  while 
a  bitter  and  scornful  smile  gave  his  countenance  a 
dark  and  forbidding  outline.  I  knew  he  was  deeply 
angered,  yet  feared  him  not.  At  any  other  time,  I 
should  have  shrunk  from  such  portents,  but  my  young 
blood  was  up  at  his  menacing  appearance,  and  some 
mysterious  influence  unclosed  a  torrent  of  warm 
words  from  my  lips.  I  followed  up  my  blows,  he 
glaring  at  me,  and  his  broad  bosom  heaving  under 
excitement. 

"  '•Boy  ! '  at  last  he  fiercely  hissed  between  his  hard- 
Bet  teeth  as  his  rage  found  vent  in  words,  iSoy  !  no 
more  out  of  your  head.  I'll  not  be  thus  outraged  by 


64:  MEN  M  IE   HEBMON. 

your  impudence.     I  can  attend  to  yours.     Go,  sir, 
your  presence  can  be  dispensed  with.' 

"  He  literally  stamped  and  chafed,  but  while  he 
boiled  with  passion,  I  became  perfectly  cool.  1  con- 
fess that  there  was  something  of  revenge  in  nay  cool- 
ness. The  letter  of  my  mother  came  up  before  me, 
and  every  word  glowed  like  hot  lava  in  my  blood  and 
burned  upon  my  tongue's  end.  A  pent-up  tide  of 
bitterness  against  my  father  gushed  fiercely  up,  and 
I  eagerly  availed  myself  of  the  opportunity  of  re- 
vealing the  knowledge  I  had  so  painfully  acquired, 
of  intemperance,  and  its  fatal  effects  upon  my  mother. 
He  had  not  dreamed  of  such  knowledge  on  my  part, 
and  readily  supposed  that  I  knew  more  of  his  early 
course  than  I  really  did.  My  unguarded  and  hot  words 
stung  him  like  serpents,  and  he  grew  purple  with 
rage.  Walking  menacingly  up  to  where  I  stood,  he 
raised  his  clenched  hand,  and  with  a  fearful  oath  or- 
dered me  to  be  gone. 

"  'Zeave  the  room,  you  young  reptile,'  he  fiercely 
said,  his  hand  still  raised.  The  blow  which  fell  years 
ago  upon  the  dying  mother,  blistered  upon  my  own 
cheek,  and  I  fearlessly  retorted  while  looking  him  full 
in  the  face, 

"  'Strike !  the  hand  that  basely  crushed  a  broken 
hearted  mother,  would  have  little  hesitation  in  striking 
the  child.' 

"  My  father's  face  grew  livid  as  I  deliberately  pro- 
nounced the  words,  and  instead  of  striking  me,  as  I 
expected  he  would,  he  turned  away  like  a  drunken 


A   NEW   PROJECT.  65 

man,  and  reseated  himself  in  his  chair.  I  left  the 
room,  regretting  the  harsh  words  I  had  spoken,  and 
yet  not  altogether  displeased  with  the  effect  they  evi- 
dently produced  upon  him. 

"  Ever  after,  in  our  conversation,  my  father  treated 
me  with  marked  coolness  and  reserve.  I  was  grieved 
at  this,  for  I  felt  that  from  ray  heart  I  wished  his  own 
good  in  what  I  had  said  of  a  mother.  Oh,  if  I  could 
at  that  time  have  enjoyed  the  light  of  that  world-wide 
flame  which  has  since  been  kindled  upon  the  temper- 
ance altar,  I  feel  that  I  could  have  headed-off  the  new 
project. 

"  I  freely  and  frankly  told  Minnie  of  the  conversa- 
tion which  had  passed  between  my  father  and  myself. 

"  '  We  are  doomed,'  said  she,  in  reply.  '  I  have 
warned  father.  I  have  reminded  him  of  the  promise 
—  the  sacred  and  solemn  vow  he  made  at  the  bedside 
of  my  dying  mother,  as  she  placed  my  childish  hands 
in  his — never  to  visit  a  tavern,  or  drink  again.  I  told 
him  of  that  mother's  sufferings  —  of  my  own  —  of 
his  fearful  fall,  and  long  and  dark  pilgrimage  of  deg- 
radation. I  knelt  to  him  and  wet  his  hands  with  my 
tears  as  I  wept  in  the  fullness  of  my  grief,  and  be- 
sought him  by  all  that  was  dark  in  the  past,  com- 
fortable in  the  present,  and  blissful  in  the  future,  to 
abandon  the  tavern  project.  But,  Walter,  I  have  no 
hope  that  he  will,  and  I  fear  that  my  poor  heart  has 
hardly  tasted  the  bitterness  yet  to  come.  I  can  al- 
ready see  the  result  of  this — he  is  determined.  The 
tear  that  for  a  moment  gathered  in  his  eye,  as  I  spoke 


66  .       MINNIE   HERMON. 

of  my  sainted  mother  in  heaven,  was  chased  away  by 
a  flash  of  untamed  passion,  and  he  rudely  bade  me 
desist.  "Walter,  the  accursed  work  has  already  com- 
menced! I  learned  that  he  had  been  then  drinking, 
and  I  have  since  found  a  bottle  hidden  away  in  tho 
closet !  God  pity  me  ! ' 

"The  truth  flashed  upon  me  ; — my  own  father  had 
been  drinking  at  the  time  he  exhibited  such  passion. 
I  had  not  dreamed  that  it  was  rum  instead  of  rage 
which  caused  him  to  reel  as  he  turned  away  from  rne 
that  morning.  Our  merchant  kept  liquors  for  medi- 
cinal purposes,  and  it  was  there  where  the  damning 
fires  of  intemperance  had  been  covertly  kindled  anew. 

"  I  now  felt  myself  older  by  years,  than  a  few  days. 
Age  had  crept  into  my  young  heart,  and  chased  tho 
smile  from  my  countenance.  I  felt  that  I  stood  in  the 
position  of  a  protector  to  Minnie,  for  our  whole  com 
munity  were  enlisted  for  the  new  tavern.  I  felt  tho 
full  baptism  of  manhood  come  upon  me,  and  spoke 
boldly  and  frankly  to  her  of  love,  and  offered  my 
hand  in  marriage.  She  laid  her  hand  in  mine,  and 
with  all  the  wealth  of  her  deep  and  pure  affection, 
returned  mine.  I  urged  her  to  an  immediate  union, 
and  thus  joined,  to  seek  a  retreat  of  our  own,  and  to- 
gether meet  and  turn  aside  the  storm  which  was  ga- 
thering around  us.  But  she  would  not  yet  consent. 
She  said  she  was  the  only  kin  of  her  father,  and 
could  not  consent  to  leave  him  alone  and  unwatched 
over  in  the  troubles  which  were  evidently  coining 
upon  him. 


A   NEW   PROJECT.  67 

"  '  No,  Walter,  do  not  urge  me.  My  love  would 
lead  me  with  you  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and 
through  any  trial,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  duty  says, 
stay.  I  fear  the  worst ;  and  if  my  father  again  falls 
into  that  fearful  abyss,  who  will  care  for  him  if  I  do 
not  ?  I  know  all  you  would  say  of  his  past  negli- 
gence— nay5  cruelty —  but  should  I  leave  him  while 
there  is  a  single  hope  ?  It  may  be  that  I  can  save 
him.  At  any  rate,  if  I  cannot  stay  the  cloud  whose 
shadow  already  falls  so  darkly  around  us,  I  can  cling 
to  him  when  it  bursts.' 

"  My  youthful  earnestness  —  my  strong  love  of 
Minnie,  grew  impatient  under  such  reasoning  ;  but 
she  was  firm,  and  I  loved  her  the  more  as  I  witnessed 
her  deep  and  changeless  devotion  to  the  welfare  of 
her  father.  It  revealed  still  more  of  that  angelic 
worth  which  had  bound  me  so  closely  to  the  unassu  • 
ming  girl.  Her  heroic  spirit  gave  me  nerve,  and  I 
left  her  with  a  stronger  reliance  upon  my  own  man- 
hood, to  meet  whatever  of  ill  might  be  in  store  for 
me." 


CHAPTEE   Y. 

THE  SPELL   BROKEN EVIL   COUNSELS   PREVAIL. 

"  THE  people  were  infatuated  with  the  new  project. 
The  remonstrances  of  Minnie  and  myself  were  but 
the  feather's  weight  against  the  determination  of  the 
leading  men  of  the  community.  I  was  looked  upon 
as  a  meddlesome,  impertinent  young  fellow,  and  she 
as  a  silly  girl,  whose  feelings  in  the  matter  were  in- 
fluenced by  me.  The  place  demanded  a  publio  house, 
and  the  traveling  public  could  not  be  accommodated 
without  one.  The  tavern  must  be  opened. 

"  Minnie  avowed  her  determination  once  more  to  at- 
tempt to  persuade  her  father  to  abandon  the  project 
of  opening  the  tavern. 

"  Late  one  evening,  Mr.  Hermon  sat  by  the  parlor 
window,  looking  dreamily  out  upon  the  landscape 
which  lay  like  a  fairy  realm  under  its  wealth  of  moon- 
beams. Clear  and  calm,  its  smile  stole  silently  in 
upon  the  carpet,  and  lingered  like  the  messenger  of 
innocence  and  purity  upon  the  feverish  cheek  of  the 
old  man.  With  as  noiseless  a  step,  the  lights  and  the 
shadows  of  other  days  lay  mingled  in  the  heart.  The 
holy  beauty  and  the  associations  of  the  hour  were 
weavmg  a  spell  over  the  heavings  of  a  troubled  spirit, 
and  the  old  man  looked  upward.  Minnie  well  under- 
stood the  wayward  moods  of  her  father,  and  knew,  as 


THE    SPELL   BEOKEN.  69 

she  had  watched  him  from  her  seat  upon  the  sofa,  that 
his  better  nature  was  uppermost.  With  a  gentle 
touch  she  swept  the  strings  of  her  harp,  her  soul  vi- 
brating in  every  tone  as  she  bowed  over  the  instru- 
ment and  wept.  It  had  been  her  mother's  harp,  and 
the  air  was  a  favorite  one  of  hers ;  its  touching  sweet- 
ness often  banishing  the  frown  from  her  father's  brow, 
and  melting  his  stern  nature  to  tenderness. 

"  A  tear  glittered  a  moment  on  the  cheek  of  Her- 
mon,  though  brushed  hastily  away.  But  Minnie  saw 
it,  and,  uniting  her  voice  with  the  harp,  she  gave  the 
words  of  the  familiar  hymn  with  all  the  sad  fervor 
which  her  heart  could  feel.  There  was  a  tear  in  hei 
tones,  and  they  mingled  like  the  low  sweep  of  an  an- 
gel's wing  upon  the  stillness  around.  Hermon  bowed 
his  face  ere  the  last  words  had  died  away.  That 
hymn  had  opened  the  fountain  of  a  thousand  memo- 
ries, and  he  could  not  but  weep. 

"  With  a  beating  heart,  Minnie  stole  across  the  room 
and  kneeled  at  her  father's  feet,  weaving  her  arms 
around  his  knees  and  looking  up  in  his  face. 

"  *  My  own  dear  father !  here,  upon  my  knees,  I  need 
not  tell  you  how  much  I  love  you.  You  know  that 
no  fortune  can  drive  me  from  you.  In  the  dark  past 
I  have  clung  more  closely,  as  every  other  friend  de- 
serted. Father !  look  upon  your  only  kin.  As  you 
love  me  —  my  sainted  mother  who  smiles  upon  us  to- 
night, —  as  you  love  yourself  and  Heaven,  tell  me 
now  that  you  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  this  tavern 
business.  Will  you  not,  my  father  ? '  And  the 


70  MINNIE    HERMON. 

pleading  girl  caught  his  hand,  and  warmed  it  with 
her  tears.  Emotion  stirred  the  strong  man  as  he  felt 
the  pure  gush  upon  his  parched  hand,  and  his  heart 
was  moved  to  say  as  she  wished.  The  dark  tempter 
was  weakened  in  that  bitter  hour,  and  before  the 
daughter's  pleading;  but  yet  the  fearful  bonds  were 
upon  him.  The  large  drops  stood  out  upon  his  fore- 
head, and  Hermon  would  have  joyed  to  have  escaped 
the  toils  which  were  weaving  around  him. 

" '  But  I  have  promised,  my  child,'  at  last  said  her 
father,  hesitatingly. 

.  "  '  God  help  you  to  break  that  promise ! '  fervently 
replied  Minnie.  '  Happiness  and  Heaven  are  worth 
more  than  faith  kept  with  wrong.  I  need  not  tell 
you  all  that  I  feel,  father ;  but  bitter  wo  is  upon  us 
if  you  keep  the  promise.  As  you  promised  my  moth- 
er, so  promise  me  this  night,  and  we  will  still  be 
happy.  Will  you  not?' 

"Minnie  had  arisen,  and  was  imprinting  a  kiss  oil 
the  old  man's  cheek,  when  footsteps  were  heard  in 
the  hall.  My  father  and  Deacon  McGarr  wished  to 
Bpeak  with  Mr.  Hermon. 

"  The  holy  spell  was  broken,  and  the  tempter  was 
triumphant.  "When  Minnie  again  saw  her  father,  the 
usual  frown  was  upon  -his  features,  and  the  fume  of 
mm  was  upon  his  lip.  No  effort  of  hers  could  obtain 
a  word  from  him  in  relation  to  the  matter  sc  pain- 
fully interesting  to  her.  The  next  morning  witnessed 
demonstrations  which  destroyed  all  her  hopes  of  de- 
feating the  plan. 


THE    SPELL    BROKEN'.  71 

"  The  carpenters  and  masons  were  soon  at  work  re- 
pairing, remodeling,  and  adding  to,  the  dwelling  of 
Mr.  Hermon.  A  '  bar-room  '  was  built  on,  and  the 
upper  story  of  the  main  building  made  into  a  'ball 
room.'  Sheds  and  stables  were  erected  on  the  beau 
tiful  yard  below  the  dwelling ;  the  bright  and  smooth 
greensward  was  cut  up  with  hoofs  and  wheels,  and 
covered  with  lumber,  and  stone,  and  sand.  The  wide- 
topped  maples,  now  loaded  with  all  the  gorgeous 
wealth  of  their  autumn  garniture  of  gold  and  crimson, 
were  considered  in  the  way  of  '  improvements,'  and 
were  cut  down.  I  watched  the  axe  as  stroke  after  stroke 
eat  to  the  heart's  core,  and  every  blow  hurt  my  own. 
I  had  passed  some  of  the  brightest  hours  of  my  ex- 
istence beneath  their  wide  branches,  and  when  the 
rustling  pyramids  fell  to  the  ground  with  a  sigh,  I 
felt  that  old  friends  had  been  severed  from  the  earth. 
Their  limbless  trunks  were  rudely  dragged  awa;y 
through  the  dirt,  and  the  scattered  leaves  rudely 
trodden  under  foot. 

"  The  dwelling  of  Mr.  Hermon  assumed  an  entire 
new  aspect.  The  sound  of  the  hammer,  the  saw,  and 
the  trowel,  rang  out  through  the  quiet  village,  and 
kept  alive  the  discussion  about  the  tavern.  Citizens 
assembled  at  evening  to  smoke  and  talk  the  matter 
over,  each  suggesting  this  and  that  improvement 
good  matrons  stopped  from  their  shopping  or  visiting 
to  gaze  over  their  specks  at  the  change,  while  the 
'ball-room'  elicited  the  liveliest  attention  01  the 
misses.  The  boys  looked  on  with  childish  wonder 


72 

and  gratification,  and  danced  around  the  blazing  pile 
of  shavings  which  the  carpenters  had  fired  in  the 
street  at  nightfall. 

"  The  tavern  was  soon  completed.  The  '  bar '  was 
nicely  arranged,  and  received  the  unanimous  admira- 
tion of  the  villagers ;  for  all,  as  they  came  in  every 
evening  to  see  how  the  thing  '  got  along,'  had  sugges- 
tions to  make.  A  small  piazza  was  built  in  front  of 
the  bar-room,  and  a  broad  bench  placed  the  entire 
length,  for  the  accommodation  of  customers.  A  new 
cedar  pump  had  been  put  into  the  well,  the  top 
'  peaked '  and  painted  white. 

"  The  tavern  awaited  the  furniture.  The  neighbors 
made  a  '  bee '  and  cleared  away  the  rubbish  in  front, 
and  drew  in  gravel  around  the  shed  and  '  stoop.'  The 
jug  passed  around  freely  during  the  afternoon,  and 
at  night  a  garrulous  group  gathered  on  the  benches 
under  the  stoop,  and  for  the  hundredth  time  spoke  of 
the  great  benefits  which  were  to  result  from  the  tavern. 

"  A  '  sign '  was  needed  to  announce  the  home  for  the 
traveler.  After  much  consultation  and  suggestion  of 
many  names,  that  of  '  Traveler's  Home '  was  fixed 
apon.  The  sign  was  soon  completed,  with  scrolls  and 
gilded  spear  points,  and  swung  up  near  the  pump  be- 
twixt two  tall  posts.  On  the  centre  of  the  board,  the 
painter  had  placed  a  beehive,  as  an  emblem  of  indus- 
try and  thrift,  and  beneath,  the  motto,  'peace  and 
plenty.'  The  sign  made  a  very  neat  appearance,  and 
for  a  few  days  received  the  same  attentions  from  tho 
villagers  as  had  the  other  improvements. 


THE   SPELL   BBOKEN.  73 

"  One  more  arrangement,  and  the  tavern  would  be 
ready  to  go  into  operation.  There  was  a  law  regula- 
ting the  sale  of  liquors  and  the  keeping  of  public 
houses,  allowing  none  but  moral  men  to  engage  in  so 
honorable  and  necessary  an  avocation.  The  tavern 
must  be  legally  kept. 

"  At  that  day,  the  man  who  had  dared  to  intimate 
that  a  tavern  could  be  kept  without  liquor,  would 
have  been  hooted  at  as  a  fool  or  madman.  For  how 
could  travelers  be  entertained  without  '  accommoda- 
tions ? '  The  weary  wayfarer  would  suffer  alternately 
with  heat  and  cold,  if  there  was  nothing  to  '  take.' 
A  man  or  beast  entertained  at  a  public  house  where 
liquors  were  not  sold  ! 

"  The  supervisor  and  the  justices  of  the  peace  were 
notified  of  the  completion  of  Mr.  Hermon's  tavern, 
and  applied  to  as  a  board  of  excise,  for  a  license  to 
keep  it  legally,  or  according  to  law.  That  grave  body 
assembled  the  last  of  October,  for  it  was  important 
that  a  public  house  should  be  opened  before  the  fall 
election." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  "HOME"  —  A  WRONG  REGULATED. 


THE  reader  will  remember  that  we  have  been  in- 
troducing our  characters  upon  the  stage  while  the 
arrangements  were  completing  for  the  licensing  of 
the  'Traveler's  Home.'  There  are  many  more  actora 
to  be  introduced  before  the  drama  all  passes  before 
the  reader. 

Late  in  the  evening  before  the  day  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  excise  board,  the  villagers  were  gathered 
on  the  steps  of  the  '  Home,'  or  setting  on  the  benches, 
all  deeply  interested  in  the  success  of  the  new  enter 
prise,  and  calculating  on  the  benefits  to  the  place  by 
a  large  increase  of  business.  Deacon  McGarr,  one 
of  the  justices,  the  supervisor,  and  several  others  of 
the  magnates,  were  conversing  in  a  low  and  earnest 
tone,  of  the  probable  rise  in  the  value  of  the  village 
lots  and  water  privileges.  Conspicuous  above  all  was 
the  village  blacksmith. 

We  must  give  an  outline  of  '  Jim  Gaston,'  IF  thc- 
huge  Vulcan  was  familiarly  called  by  his  neighbors, 
as  he  will  again  appear  in  some  of  the  futr.ro 
chapters. 

Gaston's  proportions  were  giant-like,  he  being;  six 
feet  and  eight  inches  in  height,  and  of  immense  breadth 
of  shoulders  and  strength  of  limb.  His  fist  was  as 


THE  "HOME."  75 

large  as  his  own  sledge,  and  calloused  with  industri- 
ous toil.  His  huge  head  was  buried  in  a  dense  un- 
dergrowth of  black,  bushy  hair,  features  coarse  and 
bronzed,  but  pleasant  with  the  smile  of  undeviating 
good  nature.  In  his  broad  bosom  was  as  warm  and 
true  a  heart  as  ever  beat  for  family  or  friend,  and  all 
who  knew  him  respected  him  as  a  genial-hearted, 
hard-working,  honest  man.  With  all  his  physical 
strength,  Gaston  had  never  been  known  to  have  an 
angry  word  in  his  life,  with  a  customer  or  neighbor. 
On  the  contrary,  he  had  on  several  occasions  prompt* 
ly,  though  good-naturedly,  used  his  strength  in  de- 
fence of  the  weaker  against  the  stronger.  His  own 
broad  smile  and  happy  disposition  were  infectious, 
and,  winter  or  summer,  early  or  late,  his  stentorian 
voice  was  heard,  the  accompaniment  of  his  hammei1 
and  anvil. 

Gaston,  in  his  red  flannel  shirt,  his  open  bosom  and 
heavy  neck  and  face  begrimmed  with  smut  from  his 
day's  toil  at  the  forge,  was  cracking  his  good-humored 
jokes,  as  he  sat  on  a  pile  of  lumber  in  front  of  the 
stoop,  and  his  deep  hearty  laugh  rolling  out  from  a 
wide  throat.  He  was  watching  a  merry  group  of 
children  who  were  playing  "  hide  and  seek  "  in  the 
thickening  twilight,  as  happy  as  the  happiest  of  them 
all.  One  pale  and  diminutive  little  fellow  had  nestled 
closely  under  the  massive  legs  of  the  good-natured 
blacksmith,  and  a  larger  one  behind  his  wide  shoul- 
ders. "While  the  boy  on  the  "  gool"  was  hunting  his 
comrades  under  the  shed,  Gaston  clasped  the  boy  at 


76  MINNIE   HERMON. 

his  back,  and  carelessly  walked  with  him  to  the  gool 
without  suspicion,  and  dropped  him  upon  it.  No 
child  laughed  harder  tian  he  at  the  little  ruse.  Such 
are  the  outlines  of  "  Jim  Gaston,"  the  blacksmith. 

The  evening  had  well  advanced,  and  Deacon 
McGarr  arose  to  go.  At  that  moment  Hermon  came 
out  of  the  bar-room  with  a  glass  and  decanter  in  his 
hand,  and  passed  to  the  end  of  the  stoop  where 
McGarr  was  lingering  and  talking  with  Gaston  a 
moment,  about  some  work  to  be  done  early  in  the 
morning. 

"  Deacon,"  said  Hermon,  "  I  suppose  there  is  no 
doubt  about  my  having  a  license  to  sell ;  and  as  I  al- 
ready have  my  liquors  on  hand,  perhaps  you  would 
like  to  try  a  glass.  I  rather  pride  myself  on  my 
choice  selection." 

"  Well,  I  don't  know  —  what  have  you  in  the  do- 
canter?  "  and  McGarr's  eye  glistened  as  he  rolled  a 
huge  tobacco  quid  from  his  cheek  into  his  hand  and 
tossed  it  into  the  street,  wiping  his  palm  on  his  pants. 

"  Brandy,  Deacon  —  fourth  proof,  and  as  smooth 
as  oil.  I  can  vouch  for  its  quality,"  and  Hermon 
poured  a  stiff  horn  into  the  tumbler,  and  handed  it  to 
McGarr. 

Sure  enough,  the  brandy  went  down  like  oil,  and 
McGarr  gave  an  approving  ahem  as  he  wiped  his  lips 
with  the  back  of  his  hand  ;  then  planting  his  feet 
well  apart  and  throwing  out  his  capacious  person  with 
a  pompous  swing  as  he  raised  upon  his  toes,  ho 
pulled  his  large  tin  tobacco-box  from  his  pocket,  and 


THE  "HOME."  77 

compressing  a  startling  roll  in  his  thumb  and  three  fin- 
gel's,  twisted  it  into  his  mouth,  and  with  his  tonguo 
thrust  it  to  the  accustomed  receptacle  in  the  cheek ; 
then  putting  his  thumbs  in  the  arm-hples  of  his  vest, 
and  sticking  out  his  little  fingers  in  ludicrous  efforts 
to  show  off  his  importance  by  discussing  the  qualities 
of  the  liquor  he  had  drank  at  different  times,  spitting 
dSgnifiedly,  working  his  little  fingers,  and  swaying 
backwards  and  forwards  alternately  upon  his  toes 
and  heels. 

The  decanter  went  round,  and  all  drinked  of  the 
brandy,  though  the  most  of  them  made  horrible  faces 
as  the  raw  liquid  went  down  their  throats.  Among 
the  latter  was  Gaston  and  the  oldest  son  of  McGarr. 
As  the  unwieldy  blacksmith  strangled  and  gasped 
for  water  and  the  tears  stood  in  his  eyes,  the  older  part 
of  the  company  enjoyed  a  hearty  laugh.  The  matter 
was  more  serious  with  young  McGarr,  and  the  children 
who  remained  were  merry  at  his  tears  and  wry  faces. 

"  It  is  nothing  to  laugh  at,"  said  old  McGarr,  evi- 
dently a  little  piqued,  as  he  stroked  his  chin  with  his 
hand ;  "  Harry  is  but  a  mere  boy,  and  has  not  the  ex- 
perience of  older  people." 

The  company  ceased  laughing,  and  young  McGan 
took  courage  and  looked  up,  with  a  boldness  which 
gave  promise  of  speedy  manhood  in  the  matters 
spoken  of.  His  ambition  was  aroused  to  arrive  at 
that  point  where  he  could  swallow  the  dram  as  well 
as  older  men. 

— '  A  fatal  ambition. 


78  MINNIE    liEBMON. 

The  villagers  bad  all  departed  to  their  homes,  and 
the  long,  wide  street  was  hushed  and  still.  Not  a 
light  was  to  be  seen,  or  a  footfall  heard.  Thick,  mur- 
ky clouds  had  gathered  around  the  horizon,  and  the 
increasing  night  wind  sighed  dismally  through  the 
branches  of  the  maple  which  had  been  left  standing 
near  the  shed  of  the  "Traveler's  Home." 

From  the  window  of  the  sitting-room  there  now 
came  the  hum  of  voices,  low,  half  whispering  and 
sad,  like  the  falling  of  tear-drops  in  the  stillness  of 
the  night.  It  was  Minnie  Hennon  and  Walter  Bray- 
ton,  in  sad  communion  upon  the  matter  so  fearfully 
interesting  to  them. 

"  Is  there  no  way,  "Walter,  by  which  this  scheme 
can  be  defeated  ?  I  am  as  certain  that  ruin  will  come 
of  it,  as  that  the  morning  will  dawn.  Oh,  were  I  a 
man ! " 

"  What  would  you,  what  could  you  do,  Minnie,  to 
avert  the  result?  The  house  is  all  arranged,  the 
liquors  are  here,  and  to-morrow  the  board  meets  to 
give  your  father  a  license.  Tell  me." 

Walter  spoke  earnestly  and  sadly,  for  her  words  had 
wounded  him.  Minnie  had  lost  her  resolute  tone,  and 
hung  her  head  as  she  thought  she  had  said  too  much. 

"  Pardon  me,  Walter,  for  I  spoke  from  the  strength 
of  feeling  and  not  soberly.  I  don't  know  that  any- 
thing can  be  done.  I  have  plead,  but  it  all  does  no 
good.  I  have  said  all  that  I  dare  to ;  but,  Walter, 
father  is  changed  of  late  —  he  frowns  and  curses  an 
he  did  when  mother  was  living." 


TIIK        1IOMK.  79 

""Well,  Minnie,"  said  Brayton,  with  assumed  con- 
fidence, "let  us  hope  for  the  best.  I  have  made  up 
my  mind  to  attend  the  meetings  of  the  board  to- 
morrow, and  protest  against  the  matter." 

"  It  will  do  no  good,  "Walter,  they  will  all  be 
against  you." 

"  No  matter  ;  your  father — they  all  will  be  offend- 
ed, but  they  shall  hear  me,"  and  Walter  Brayton, 
firm  in  the  strength  of  an  honest  purpose,  raised  him- 
self to  his  full  height,  as  if  eager  to  grapple  with  some 
imaginary  enemy. 

With  the  sky  overcast  and  the  darkness  around 
(hem,  Minnie  and  Walter  whispered  kindly  words  to 
each  other  and  parted.  She  listened  to  his  retreating 
footsteps  and  to  the  sighing  wind,  and  closed  the  door 
with  darkening  thoughts. 

It  had  rained  during  the  night,  enough  to  prevent 
the  farmers  from  attending  their  usual  avocations  on 
the  following  day.  This,  with  the  interest  which  the 
uew  tavern  created,  attracted  a  large  number  of  peo- 
ple to  the  village,  and  when  the  hour  came  for  the  as- 
sembling of  the  board,  the  "  Home  "  was  thronged. 
The  members  were  proud  of  their  positions,  and  of 
appearing  before  their  townsmen  on  an  occasion  of 
BO  much  importance,  and  so,  to  make  the  matter  as 
public  as  possible,  they  adjourned  from  the  small  sit- 
ting-room to  the  new  and  capacious  ball  chamber. 
Even  this  room  was  soon  filled,  and  the  benches  by 
the  walls  were  soon  crowded,  and  a  large  number 
standing  in  the  open  space.  No  one  could  correctly 


80  MINNIE   HEEMON. 

determine  what  particular  tiling  had  called  the  large 
assembly  together,  but  an  unusual  official  proceeding 
was  to  take  place,  and  the  interest  was  intense.  They 
were  to  see  a  tavern  licensed ! 

There  was  a  busy  hum  among  the  people,  and  all 
were  anxiously  awaiting  the  commencement  of  the 
proceedings. 

At  last  Deacon  McGarr  took  it  upon  himself  to  walk 
around  behind  the  table,  and  after  looking  wisely 
through  his  spectacles  upon  the  assembly,  proceeded 
to  call  the  board  to  order  ;  whereupon  the  other  mem- 
bers modestly  took  their  places  at  the  table.  The 
supervisor  was  a  white-haired  old  gentleman  —  an 
honest  and  well-meaning  old  farmer,  but  little  used 
to  public  business.  The  remaining  members  were  of 
the  average  material  selected  in  country  towns  for 
such  positions. 

McGarr  was  still  standing,  one  hand  in  his  panta- 
loons pocket  and  the  other  resting  upon  the  back  of  " 
the  statute,  which  had  occupied  a  conspicuous  place 
before  him,  he  still  looking  solemnly  over  his  specta- 
cles, as  if  to  awe  into  perfect  silence  before  he  pro- 
ceeded farther.  Just  at  this  juncture  there  was  a 
bustle  at  the  door,  and  the  tall  form  of  Colonel  "VYes- 
ton  appeared  conspicuous.  McGarr  assumed  a  bland 
smile  and  beckoned  the  Colonel  towards  him,  and 
while  the  wealthy  young  farmer  was  elbowing  his 
way  through  the  crowd,  the  Deacon  had  officially 
driven  some  of  the  smaller  fry  from  their  seats,  and 
secured  a  wide  berth  for  him  near  the  table.  Close 


THE  "HOME/*  81 

in  the  wake  of  "Western  swayed  the  huge  form  of  the 
blacksmith,  his  face  covered  with  smut  and  smiles. 
The  Deacon  did  not  esteem  Gaston  as  important  a 
personage,  and  left  him  standing  in  the  crowd,  his 
shoulders  and  open  flannel  shirt  bosom  conspicuous 
above  the  heads  of  them  all. 

After  Weston  had  taken  his  seat,  McGarr  looked 
as  sternly  and  solemnly  as  ever  over  his  spectacles, 
and  then  elevating  his  face  and  looking  through  them, 
his  hands  locked  under  the  skirts  of  his  coat  behind 
him,  after  spitting  with  due  precision,  he  broke  the 
impressive  silence. 

"  I  suppose,  gentlemen,  you  are  all  aware  of  the 
object  which  has  convened  us  here." 

The  Deacon  dropped  his  head  impressively  and 
looked  over  his  spectacles,  after  adjusting  them  more 
carefully  upon  his  nose  and  again  putting  his  hands 
together  under  his  coat  tails.  Finding  that  the  si- 
lence was  duly  respected,  he  spit  again,  and  con- 
tinued. 

"  I  say,  gentlemen,  we  are  met  here  as  a  board  of 
exercise,  for  the  purpose  of  granting  a  license  to  Mr. 
Hermon,  to  keep  a  tavern.  I  need  n't  'lucidate  on 
the  advantages  of  a  tavern  in  a  place  like  this.  No, 
gentlemen,  —  it  is  plain  to  every  one,  that  a  house 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  public,  is  highly  needed 
among  us.  Ipersume  there  is  not  a  single  descending 
voice  against  a  tavern  —  not  one." 

Mr.  McGarr,  at  the  conclusion  of  the  last  sentence, 
given  in  an  emphatic  tone,  jerked  his  thick  body  vio-' 


82  MINNIE   HERMON. 

lently  forward  to  make  it  still  more  emphatic,  his 
specs  falling  from  his  nose  upon  the  table.  A  titter 
ran  round  the  outside  of  the  room,  among  the  young- 
er portion  of  the  audience,  and  the  Deacon  colored 
deeply  at  such  an  interruption  of  his  speech.  But  he 
wiped  his  specs,  and  as  he  again  put  them  on,  he 
dropped  his  brow,  rolled  his  quid  to  the  other  side  of 
his  mouth,  and  again  looked  silently  around  over  his 
glasses. 

"Gentlemen  and  la gentlemen.     "We  need  a 

tavern.  Our  feller  citizen,  Mr.  Hermon,  has  prepared 
to  keep  one,  and  wants  a  license.  He  is  a  man  of 
excellent  moral  character,  and  we  are  obliged  as  a 
board  of  exercise,  to  give  him  one.  The  law  is  plain 
on  this  j?Mi£."  As  he  concluded,  he  took  his  specs  off 
with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  dropped  the 
;'  statoo  "  emphatically  upon  the  table.  "With  a  self- 
satisfied  air,  he  pulled  away  his  coat  skirts  and  sat 
down,  crossing  his  legs  and  resting  his  thumbs  in  his 
vest.  As  he  looked  around  to  see  what  effect  his 
speech  had  made  upon  the  spectators,  he  slowly 
stroked  his  chin,  and  drummed  on  the  floor  with  his 
foot. 

No  one  said  a  word,  and  McGarr,  with  a  conde- 
scending air,  finally  suggested  that  perhaps  others 
might  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  the  subject 
"  before  them.  "Whereupon  the  supervisor  raised  about 
half  way  up,  with  his  hand  resting  upon  the  post  of 
his  chair,  and  stammered  out  the  idea  that  there  ought 
to  be  a  tavern  in  the  place,  and  then  sat  down, 


THE  "HOME."  S3 

drawing  a  long  breath.  During  this  time,  Mr.  Tler- 
mon  was  standing  in  front  of  the  table,  with  his  hat 
in  his  hand,  his  chin  resting  upon  the  crown.  Old 
Mr.  Bray  ton  was  resting  upon  the  corner  of  the 
table. 

"  Gentlemen,  as  you  have  given  opportunity,  I  wish 
to  make  a  few  remarks." 

All  turned  as  these  words,  in  low  and  tremulous 
but  pleasant  and  distinct  tones,  arrested  their  atten- 
tion. Deacon  McGarr  so  far  forgot  his  dignity  as  to 
raise  himself  partially  from  his  chair,  and  look 
towards  that  part  of  the  room  from  whence  the 
voice  proceeded  ;  then  putting  his. hand  behind  his 
ear,  in  a  listening  attitude,  he  requested  the  gentle- 
man to  speak  louder.  Thus  assured,  the  speaker 
stood  upon  the  bench  where  all  could  see  him.  It 
was  Walter  Brayton.  His  countenance  was  flushed, 
and  he  hesitated  with  embarrassment,  but  he  was 
committed  and  all  eyes  were  turned  upon  him. 

"I  see,  my  friends,  that  I  shall  be  alone  in  what  1 
have  to  say,  but  before  God  I  believe  I  am  in  the 
right,  and  I  must  speak  honestly.  Alone  though  I 
may  be,  I  most  earnestly  and  solemnly  protest  against 
this  whole  affair.  I  know  that  I  shall  offend  when  I 
say  it,  but  I  think  I  can  see  that  your  tavern,  instead 
of  being  a  benefit,  will  be  a  deep  and  lasting  injury. 
It  ought  never  to  be." 

Walter  spoke  rapidly,  but  with  an  honest  energy 
which  riveted  attention.  His  were  novel  thoughts  at 
that  day,  and  his  a  bold  and  embarrassing  position. 
4 


84  MINNIE   HERMON. 

But  there  wa«  the  ring  of  the  true  metal  in  his  manly 
tones,  and  had  he  been  spared  in  his  strength  until  a 
later  day,  his  moral  heroism  would  have  made  him  a 
leader  whose  words  would  have  been  a  trumpet's 
blast. 

Deacon  McGarr  looked  more  sternly  than  ever  over 
his  glasses,  and  chewed  his  quid  rapidly,  casting- in- 
quiring looks  from  the  father  to  the  son.  The  elder 
Brayton  sat  with  a  frown  and  compressed  lip,  and 
Ilermon  looked  angrily  towards  McGarr. 

"  Does  the  young  man  know  what  he  is  talking 
about?"  asked  McGarr,  with  attempted  sternness, 
eyeing  Walter  over  his  glasses. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  latter,  respectfully  but  firm- 
ly ;  "I  am  talking  of  a  tavern  which  you  propose 
this  day  to  empower  to  sell  intoxicating  liquors  to 
jour  neighbors.  I  know  that  I  am  talking  to  older 
men,  but  I  believe  that  the  result  of  your  action  wil] 
bring  desolation  and  sorrow  to  your  homes  and  fami 
lies  in  the  future.  This  is  a  peaceful,  happy  commu- 
nity now,  but  you  commence  the  retail  of  spirituous 
liquors,  and  in  my  humble  opinion,  every  one  of  you, 
gentlemen  of  the  board,  will  regret  it." 

"  Does  the  young  man  dare  to  imprecate  the  board 
of  exercise?  Such  language  cannot  be  permitted. 
The  young  man  will  please  take  his  seat.  Boys  like 
he  should  not  presume  to  label  the  board.  What 
does  he  know  about  licensed  taverns,  and  by  whose 
authority  does  he  come  here  to  instruct  men  like  we 
are?" 


THE  "  HOME."  85 

McGarr  grew  pale  with  anger  as  he  proceeded,  and 
sat  down  with  tlie  air  of  one  who  felt  that  he  had  an- 
nihilated his  man.  But  he  was  mistaken  in  the  metal 
of  Walter  Bray  ton.  The  sneering  tone  and  everbear- 
ing manner  of  the  Deacon  aroused  the  lion  in  him; 
and  with  a  kindling  eye  and  erect  form  he  burst  fortli  • 
in  a  torrent  of  burning  eloquence,  which  startled  and 
thrilled  by  its  power.  The  natural  orator  was  there, 
and  that  audience,  against  him  though  they  were, 
listened  in  wrapt  attention. 

"  Yes,"  he  spoke  in  conclusion,  his  clear  ringing 
voice  slightly  tremulous  with  emotion,  "your  tavern 
will  prove  a  curse.  I  cannot  foretell  all  its  results, 
but  it  will  prove  a  curse.  Deacon  McGarr,  in  a  man- 
ner and  tone  unworthy  one  of  his  profession,  has 
sneered  at  my  youth.  My  boyhood  is  no  crime. 
Boy  as  I  am,  I  could  reveal  a  history  which  would 
draw  tears  from  every  eye — a  history  of  hopes  ruined 
—  of  suffering  and  of  death." 

"This  cannot  be  tolerated;  your  stories  have  no- 
thing to  do  with  the  matter  before  the  board,"  ex- 
claimed McGarr,  in  a  loud  and  angry  tone.  "  You 
will  take  your  seat,  sir." 

"  I  have  done,  Deacon  McGarr  —  my  painful  duty 
is  performed."  Here  Walter  caught  his  father's  eye, 
uow  flashing  with  anger,  and  he  continued. 

"You  ask  me  by  what  authority  I  come  here.  I 
have  the  same  right  as  every  other  American  citizen. 
In  behalf  of  the  women  and  children  of  this  commu- 
nity ;  of  a  sorrowing,  broken-hearted  mother  who  is 


86  MINNIE   HERMON 

at  rest  in  her  grave  •  by  that  well-won.  Bible  wliicli 
/urn  snatched  from  her  dying  pillow  ;  by  ten  thou- 
sand histories  of  wrong  and  Buffering,  I  most  solemnly 
protest  against  this  proceeding.  You  will  see  the 
time  when  you'will  curse  this  day  with  hearts  of 
deepest  bitterness,  every  one  of  you.  I  have  done/' 

"  And  it  ought  to  be  cursed  !  " 

A  strangely  deep  and  startling  voice  broke  in  upon 
ihe  stillness  which  followed  the  speech  of  Walter 
Brayton.  There  was  a  movement  to  see  from  whence 
it  came,  and  McGarr,  livid  with  ill-suppressed  rage, 
called  out, 

"Who  is  that?" 

"  One  your  tavern  is  to  benefit,  Deacon  McGarr/1 
find  he  stepped  up  in  fair  view,  arid  fixed  his  fiery  red 
but  piercing  eye  full  upon  the  dignitary  he  addressed. 
We  recognize  our  acquaintance  in  the  seaman's 
jacket  and  broad-brimmed  tarpaulin. 

"The  man  is  drunk  —  he  is  drunk,  put  him  out  — 
Constable  Gaston,  put  him  out —  I  order  you  !  " 

The  dignity  of  the  waspish  official  had  been  too 
deeply  insulted,  and  he  fairly  danced  with  excess  of 
rage. 

"  Put  him  out,  I  say — I  order  you  to  put  him  out," 
and  the  exasperated  Deacon  snatched  his  glasses  off 
and  pointed  to  where  the  seaman  still  stood,  looking 
calmly  and  sneeringly  upon  the  scene.  Gaston  good- 
naturedly  laid  his  huge  hand  on  the  man's  shoulders 
and  led  him  peacefully  down  stairs. 

That  speech  of  Walter  Brayton's  was  a  glorious  ono 


THE    "  HOME."  87 

for  that  day,  but  the  granting  of  the  license  was  a 
foregone  conclusion,  and  as  soon  as  the  excitement 
had  subsided,  the  board,  after  some  favorable  remarks 
from  Colonel  Weston,  proceeded  to  complete  the 
business  which  had  called  them  together,  and  the 
"  Travelers  Home  "  was  licensed.  That  evening  and 
the  following  day  the  "  Home  "  was  open  to  all,  and 
liquors  free. 
—  The  first  results  were  in  progress. 


CHAPTER    Yli. 

DEATH   IN   THE   ATTIO. 

DARKNESS  rests  like  a  pall  upon  the  streets  which 
are  now  deserted.  The  busy  throng  which  has  swept 
the  thoroughfares  until  late  at  night,  has  ceased  to 
flow,  and  the  great  metropolis  no  longer  throbs  its 
living  tide  through  the  accustomed  arteries.  The 
snow  has  been  falling  fast  for  an  hour,  and  the  sharp 
gusts  sweep  round  the  corner  and  go  wailing  down 
the  dim  avenues,  as  if  sorrowing  for  human  woe. 
The  lamp  lights  gleam  pale  and  sickly  out  through  the 
storm.  The  policemen,  or  some  reveller,  and  the 
winds,  alone  disturb  the  silence  that  reigns. 

Turn  downward  where  the  lepers  of  want  and  vice 
have  gathered  as  if  in  sympathy.  The  foul  crater  is 
active,  for  its  more  deadly  fumes  ascend  in  the  dark- 
ness of  the  night.  Down  below  the  surface  of  earth, 
are  pits  where  the  ruffianly  and  the  vile  are  at  their 
revels.  There. is  a  faint,  deathly  glare  from  the  dirty 
windows,  and,  in  spite  of  the  wintry  blast,  an  occa- 
sional breath  of  the  rum  hell  reeking  beneath.  And 
then  there  often  comes  up  some  startling  ha  !  ha  !  to 
mingle  with  the  shrieking  of  the  wind. 

Here  is  a  dark  alley,  scarce  wide  enough  to  admit  a 
person,  and  running  back  where  no  light  breaks  in 


DEATH    IN    THE    ATTIC.  89 

upon  the  impenetrable  darkness.  The  foot  strikes  a 
step  and  we  climb  upward  upon  a  creaking  fright  of 
stairs.  The  snow  and  wind  whirl  fiercely  over  the 
roof  and  shake  the  crazy  structure  to  its  founda- 
tion, but  we  lean  closer  to  the  walls  and  mount 
upward. 

Five  stories  up,  and  we  stand  upon  a  narrow  plat- 
form and  peer  down  with  a  whirling  brain  into  the 
black  ocean  below.  Turning  into  a  narrow  hall,  we 
stand  before  a  shattered  door,  revealing  a  feeble  light 
within.  Even  in  this  winter  night,  the  miasma  of 
pollution  floats  through  the  building  like  a  pestilence. 

What  a  scene,  as  we  enter  that  chamber !  Here 
poverty  and  want  grin  in  their  ghastly  loneliness  and 
solitude.  The  silence  of  desolation  broods  over  all, 
and  the  faint  lamp-light  flickering  to  its  wane,  is  like 
the  beam  which  creeps  up  from  the  exhalations  of 
the  grave.  There  is  not  a  coal  in  the  grate,  nor  a 
chair  in  the  room.  The  gusts  of  wind  sift  the  snow 
through  the  cracks  by  the  door,  and  an  involuntary 
chill  steals  over  the  surface  and  then  into  the  heart. 
Starvation,  gaunt,  pinched  and  spectral,  stalks  before 
the  imagination,  and  mingles  a  footfall  with  every 
gust  that  rattles  the  shattered  door. 

—  And  do  human  creatures  dwell  in  such  abodes 
ao  this  ? 

Hist ! 

There  is  a  sound  in  that  dark  corner.  There  is  a 
sigh  as  if  a  life  of  agony  were  crushed  at  once  from 
the  heart.  And  then  a  spectre  form  slowly  rises  and 


90  MINNIE    HERMON. 

stalks  towards  the  light.  It  is  a  woman,  but  God! 
how  thm  and  haggard !  A  fiercer  gust  shakes  the  old 
building.  She  stands  in  a  listening  attitude,  as  its 
low  wail  dies  away,  and  then,  wildly  staring  at  va- 
cancy, takes  her  seat  mechanically  upon  a  box  by  tho 
light.  Her  face  is  thin,  and  every  feature  the  foot- 
print of  unutterable  agony.  The  eyes  are  sunken 
and  inflamed,  but  as  tearless  as  her  cheek  and  lip  are 
bloodless.  The  latter  is  thin  and  drawn  closely,  as  if 
in  mortal  suffering,  over  her  teeth. 

She  leans  towards-  the  waning  taper,  and  takes  a 
garment  in  her  hand  upon  which  she  has  been  sew- 
ing. How  fearfully  tearless  and  calm  she  appears. 
We  look  until  some  nightmare  fascination  chains  us  to 
the  spot.  Save  a  startling  wildness  about  the  eye,  it 
would  not  seem  that  those  features  had  ever  been 
stirred  by  a  human  passion.  She  holds  her  hands 
towards  the  light  in  the  attempt  to  thread  her  needle, 
but  fails  ;  and  still,  with  her  hands  extended,  stares  at 
the  dim  taper. 

There  is  a  stirring  in  the  heap  of  rags  beside  her, 
and  the  woman  starts  as  if  stung  by  an  adder.  The 
faintest  flush  passes  over  her  cheek,  and  she  mutters 
to  herself  as  she  more  hurriedly  essays  to  thread  tho 
needle. 

From  that  heap  of  rags  a  boy  has  come  forth! 
Child  of  ten  years,  perhaps  —  he  stands  before  that 
spectral  mother,  and  in  husky  whispers  asks  for  bread. 
She  stares  strangely  into  his  face,  and  still  mutters  to 
herself. 


DEATH   IN   THE   ATTIC.  91 

The  boy  is  almost  naked  and  shivering  with  cold, 
and  upon  those  childish  features  hunger  has  written 
enough  to  pierce  the  hardest  heart.  The  very  look 
is  a  hopeless,  heart-breaking  agony.  The  child  bows 
his  head  in  that  woman's  lap  with  a  sob-like  moan, 
and  then  moves  with  a  languid  step  to  the  grate  and 
lays  his  fingers,  already  blue  with  cold,  upon  the 
frosty  iron.  The  chill  causes  him  to  start,  and  he  re- 
turns moaning  to  the  woman.  The  hand  has  fallen 
in  her  lap,  and  the  boy  lays  his  cold  cheek  down  upon 
it  and  weeps.  She  laughs  !  but  it  is  the  low,  horrible 
ha  !  ha !  of  the  maniac  ! 

"  Mother !  dear  mother,  give  me  one  mouthful  of 
bread.  Hain't  there  bread  enough  .where  Pa  has 
gone  ?  Mother,  will  God  give  me  bread  if  I  say  my 
prayers  ? " 

The  child  kneels,  and  the  prayer  his  mother  taught 
him  goes  feebly  up  against  the  wail  of  the  blast,  and 
then,  with  weariness  and  hunger,  the  little  pleader 
falls  to  sleep  on  his  knees,  his  head  on  his  mother's 
hand. 

—  That  mother  smiles  as  she  still  stares  at  vacancy. 


The  storm  has  passed,  and  the  morning  light 
of  the  Sabbath  dawns  upon  the  great  city.  Tho 
church  bells  are  pealing  out  the  Sabbath  melody, 
and  gay  throngs  of  people  are  wending  along  to  the 
richlv  furnished  churches.  Here  are  shawls  whicL 


92  MINNIE   HERMON. 

a  queen  might  envy,  and  equipages  of  princely 
splendor. 

Early  this  Sabbath  morning,  a  cold-hearted  land- 
lord goes  up  the  lone  stairway  for  the  promised  pit- 
tance of  rent,  and  knocks  at  the  door,  which  the 
reader  has  already  entered.  He  awaits  but  a  moment 
and  angrily  enters. 

"  No  playing  games  with  me,  madam.  That  money 
or  leave.  D'ye  hear,  woman  ? " 

The  ruffian  was  used  to  scenes  of  suffering,  but  he 
started  back  at  the  one  before  him.  That  pale,  hag- 
gard woman-spectre  was  still  seated  by  the  lamp  now 
burned  out,  the  garment  and  needle  in  her  hand, 
and  that  horrible  smile  upon  her  features,  and  that 
wild  eye  gazing  into  vacancy. 

The  lamp  had  burned  down  and  died  out  in  its 
socket.  The  lamp  of  life,  too,  had  waned  during  that 
cold,  dreary  night,  and  a  corpse  sat  there,  holding  the 
needle  in  the  emaciated  fingers,  and  smiling  in  death. 
The  boy  slept  against  the  rigid  and  pulseless  form  of 
the  toil-worn,  heart-broken,  hungered  mother. 

That  day  the  officer  entered  the  fireless  chamber 
to  remove  the  dead  seamstress.  In  that  dark  corner, 
where  the  woman  was  first  seen,  was  the  husband. 
He  had  been  a  corpse  for  more  than  ten  days,  and 
she  toiling  to  escape  starvation,  and  watching  with 
the  shroudless,  unburied  dead. 

The  two  found  a  home  and  an  endless  rest  in  "  Pot- 
ter's Field,"  and  the  pinched  and  starving  boy,  bread 
in  the  alms-house. 


DEATH   IN   THE  ATTIC.  93 

Another  act  in  the  great  tragedy  of  intemperance 
had  been  played  out,  and  the  curtain  of  wintry  clod 
and  snow  closed  upon  the  principal  actors.  The 
fashionable  throng  passed  from  their  churches,  while 
the  starved  paupers  went  to  their  graves. 


CHAPTEE   YIII. 

A  -WEDDING  AT  THE  COTTAGE  —  "ONLY  ONE  GLASS.' 


ACROSS  the  stream,  upon  the  overhanging  bank,  was 
one  of  the  loveliest  spots  in  the  village.  The  village 
doctor  dwelt  here.  The  cottage  was  nearly  hidden 
in  a  dense  grove  of  sugar  maples,  dotted  here  and 
there  with  green  pyramids  of  the  spruce  and  the  fir, 
and  the  clean  gravel  walk  wound  deviously  among 
the  shrubbery  from  the  threshold  ta  the  gate,  through 
a  rich  carpeting  of  green.  Autumn  had  already 
commenced  its  language  of  beauty  upon  the  foliage ; 
and,  mixed  with  the  more  copious  green  of  summer, 
was  the  golden  yellow,  with  scattering  tufts  of  scarlet, 
gleaming  like  wreaths  of  flame  in  the  pure  October 
sunlight.  The  eaves  of  the  cottage  were  green  with 
moss,  and  the  wild  vines  had  crept  up  one  corner  and 
clung  closely  to  the  old  water  trough,  and  dropped  in 
graceful  festoons  before  the  quaint  old  window  in  the 
gable.  Back  of  the  dwelling  were  two  old  pear  trees, 
reaching  far  up  into  the  sky,  and  their  trunks  green 
with  the  moss  of  years.  A  little  farther,  and  the  grape 
had  climbed  into  a  wild  plum,  and  an  impenetrable 
canopy  of  cool  green  network  hung  gracefully  above 
the  old  seat  at  the  roots.  Sloping  back  from  the  gar- 
den, -was  a  meadow  reaching  down  until  the  turf  dip- 


ONLY    ONE   GLASS. 


A   WEDDING   AT   THE   COTTAGE.  97 

ped  its  lorg  green  fringe  into  the  stream.  Back  of 
all,  the  hills  beat  up  against  the  sky  with  their  robing 
of  dark  evergreen,  flecked  here  and  there  with  the 
crimsoning  maple  or  yellow  birch. 

—  One  might  hunt  for  years  and  not  find  a  lovlicr 
epot. 

Ten  years  before  the  time  of  which  we  are  writing, 
there  was  sorrow  in  the  old  cottage.  The  sun  smiled 
sweetly  in  the  west  and  into  the  high  old  windows, 
but  there  were  dark  shadows  on  hearts  within.  An 
old  man  was  wrestling  with  death.  Delirium  was 
upon  him,  and  he  raved  in  his  madness  of  a  stranger 
name,  and  cursed  and  died.  The  orphan  child  who 
had  never  known  a  mother,  wept  in  all  the  bitterness 
of  childhood's  grief  upon  the  corpse  of  her  father. 
She  knew  not  that  the  madness  which  swept  the  sky 
of  his  life's  last  evening,  was  the  madness  of  the  bowl. 
She  found  herself  alone  in  the  old  cottage,  a  beauti- 
ful, sorrowing  orphan. 

But  childhood's  sorrows  pass  away.  The  sun  smiles 
upon  the  tear-drops  of  the  passing  storm.  Ten  years 
went  by,  and  the  orphan  child  had  bloomed  into 
faultless  womanhood,  and  moved  a  star  in  the 
circles  around  her,  for  she  was  as  good  as  she  waa 
lovely. 

The  gifted  and  noble  young  Howard  had  settled  in 
llie  place  and  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine. 
His  talent,  professional  skill,  and  high  moral  worth, 
made  him  at  once  a  favorite.  Re  was  a  young  man 
of  rare  promise,  though  without  means.  His  practice 


98  MINNIE    HERMON. 

led  him  to  form  the  acquaintance  of  the  lovely  orphan, 
and  a  strong  mutual  attachment  sprang  up  between 
them. 

One  evening  in  June  there  was  a  gathering  at  th 
cottage,  and  light-he&rted  throngs  rustled  up  the 
walks  to  the  shadowy  old  porch.  Lights  streamed 
from  the  windows,  and  pleasant  voices  went  out  upon 
the  still  and  balmy  air.  Merry  groups  gathered  upon 
the  soft  greensward,  or  tripped  with  low  whispers 
through  the  balcony,  hidden  by  green  jealousies  and 
pendant  boughs.  An  ocean  of  pure  moonlight  bathed 
the  world  in  its  mellow  flood. 

A  wedding  party  has  gathered  —  Howard  and  tho 
fair  orphan  are  to  stand  at  the  altar. 

All  was  light  and  joy  in  the  old  cottage.  The 
"  Doctor  "  was  a  favorite,  and  the  invitation  had  been 
general ;  and  the  old  and  the  young  of  both  sexes 
were  gathered  on  the  occasion. 

There  was  a  sound  of  merry  voices  floating  from 
the  open  windows  out  upon  the  calm  night  air,  with 
a  pleasant  mingling  of  laughter  and  music.  The  par 
eon  had  not  yet  made  his  appearance,  and  spirits 
were  buoyant  and  tongues  unfettered. 

"Is  what  I  hear  true,  Colonel,  about  the  Doctor? 
Or  is  it  some  neighborhood  gossip  ? " 

This  question  was  put  by  Miss  Anson,  (next  to  tho 
orphan  heiress,  the  belle  of  the  village,)  to  Colonel 
Weston,  a  young  and  wealthy  farmer,  as  they  were 
promenading  arm  in  arm  up  and  down  the  grave] 
walk  in  front  of  tne  mansion. 


A   WEDDING    AT   THE   COTTAGE.  99 

"  To  what  do  you  allude,  Miss  Anson  ? "  answered 
Tfeston. 

"  "Why,  have  n't  you  heard  ?  —  why,  it  is  the  neigh- 
borhood talk  that  the  Doctor  refuses  to  have  wine  at 
his  wedding!" 

"  Is  it  possible !  I  had  not  heard  it  before.  But 
surely  he  will  not  so  far  depart  from  propriety  and 
fashionable  custom,  as  to  treat  his  friends  and  guests 
thus  disrespectfully  ? " 

"  I  don't  know  about  that.  Miss  Knight  told  me 
last  evening,  and  she  says  that  Miss  Nelson's  brother 
told  her,  that  the  Doctor  positively  refused  to  have 
wine  at  his  wedding.  I  fear  thero  is  something 
in  it." 

"  Surely,"-  replied  the  Colonel,  in  unfeigned  aston- 
ishment, "  the  Doctor  cannot  be  so  beside  himself.  I 
know  he  is  somewhat  eccentric  in  these  matters,  but 
what  unaccountable  whim  has  come  over  him  now?" 

"  I  don't  know.  But  if  he  persists,  it  will  do  him 
a  great  injury.  It  is  already  the  town  talk.  Some 
friend  should  see  him  and  talk  him  out  of  it.  Not 
have  wine  at  a  wedding !  and  belonging,  too,  to  the 
first  society  ? " 

Miss  Anson  felt  indignant  at  such  a  contemplated 
violation  of  fashion  and  good  breeding,  and  proceeded 
to  commiserate  the  feelings  of  the  bride  under  cir 
cumstances  so  mortifying  to  her  pride  and  good  taste. 

"Well,  well,"  said  Colonel  "Weston,  musingly, 
"  this  will  never  do.  I  will  see  Doctor  Howard  my- 
self. He  must  not  take  a  step  so  objectionable  and 


100  MINNIE    HERMON. 

improper.  Let  me  surrender  my  pleasant  post,  Miss 
Anson,  to  Mr.  Mason  for  a  few  moments,  while  I  go 
to  do  my  friend  a  kindness." 

"  I  will  most  cheerfully  accept  the  trust,  Colonel 
Weston,  and  shall  not  look  anxiously  for  your  re- 
turn. Colonel  "Weston  bowed,  and  passed  into  the 
house. 

"  Have  you  heard  anything  of  this  strange  freak  of 
Doctor  Howard,  about  not  having  any  wine  at  his 
wedding,  Mr.  Mason  ? " 

"  I  suppose  I  know  something  of  the  matter,  and 
must  say  that  I  regret  that  it  is  true.     The  house- 
keeper came  yesterday  and  got  the  wine  at  our  store, 
but  it  was  without  the  knowledge  of  Howard.     Mis 
tress  sent  her." 

"  How  strange  you  talk !  What  on  earth  can  have 
possessed  the  man  to  take  such  a  course?" 

"  Indeed,  Miss  Anson,  it  is  as  strange  to  me  as  to 
all  his  friends.  If  he  persists  in  such  folly,  it  will  in- 
jure  him  most  deeply  throughout  the  community. 
Such  a  breach  of  propriety  would  hardly  be  for- 
given." 

"  Inj  ure  him  ?  —  indeed  it  will !  His  friends  should 
look  to  the  matter.  Colonel  Weston  has  already  gone 
to  reason  him  out  of  his  singular  determination.  Not 
have  wine  at  a  wedding  ?  Who  ever  heard  of  the  like  ? " 

"  Let  us  hope,  Miss  Anson,  that  this  matter  will  all 
yet  pass  off  properly.  No  one  would  regret  more 
than  myself,  such  conduct  in  a  gentleman  of  Doctor 
Howard's  character  and  standing." 


A  "WEDDING   AT  THE  COrTAGE.  101 

The  matter  had  already  got  noised  about,  and  other 
groups  were  discussing  the  question  with  as  much 
earnestness  as  though  the  future  happiness  and  posi- 
tion of  the  young  couple  depended  upon  the  circula- 
tion of  wine  among  the  wedding  guests. 

While  the  groups  in  the  yard  and  on  the  veranda, 
were  discussing  the  matter  in  whispers,  there  was  an- 
other discussion  in  the  chamber.  There  was  Doctor 
Howard  and  his  young  bride,  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
the  parson. 

"  Well,  Henry,"  spoke  Miss  James,  in  low  tones, 
"I  do  not  wish  to  insist  on  having  the  wine  handed 
around.  On  my  own  part,  I  care  nothing  about  it; 
but  what  will  the  people  say  ? " 

"  Let  us  not  care,  dear  one,  what  people  say.  I  do 
not  like  to  be  a  slave  to  custom,  and  especially  to  a 
custom  which  I  know  to  be  wrong." 

"  You  speak  earnestly,  Henry,  of  a  very  fashiona 
ble  custom.  What  objection  can  you  have — how  do 
you  know  it  is  wrong  ?  I  am  sure  I  am  anxious  to 
see  the  matter  in  the  light  that  you  do,  but  I  fear  our 
friends  will  be  offended  if  we  banish  wine  on  this  oc- 
casion. Do  you  not  ? " 

"They  might,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  if  they  knew 
what  I  know,  they  would  shun  the  accursed  cup  of 
the  enchantress." 

The  bride  was  startled  at  the  depth  and  energy  of 
Howard's  tones,  and  watched  with  interest  the  shad- 
ows that  passed  over  his  fine  countenance.  There 
was  sadness  there,  for  the  gifted  and  noble  man  was 


102  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

looking  away  upon  the  dark  canvass  of  childhood, 
where  still  lingered  the  scene  of  a  boy,  hui  gry  and 
oold,  weeping  himself  to  rest  in  the  lap  of  a  dead 
mother  in  the  garret.  The  boy  had  learned  in  after 
years,  the  cause  of  his  early  bereavement  and  suffer 
ing.  and  shrunk  from  the  glass  as  he  would  from  a 
serpent's  hiss. 

"  No,  no,"  sadly  spoke  Howard,  as  he  aroused  him- 
self from  his  musing,  "  do  not  over  persuade  me  in 
this  matter.  I  may  be  asking  much,  but  there  is  a 
shadow  of  a  coming  ill  resting  upon  me,  and  I  cannot 
shake  it  off,  and  it  seems  strongly  associated  with  this 
wine  business.  Agree  with  me  in  this,  Ellen,  and  I 
will  bless  you  always." 

Howard  stood  before  her,  and  a  tear  came  upon 
her  own  lid  as  she  saw  his  sad  face.  She  laid  hei 
hand  in  his  affectionately  and  smiled. 

"  You  have  conquered  —  let  it  go  as  you  wish.  I 
seill  not  press  you  now,  but  some  time  hence  I  will 
ask  you  why  you  so  earnestly  urge  this  strange  wish, 
for  I  am  sure  there  is  much  behind  it  all,  which  you 
have  not  told  me." 

There  was  a  hush  in  the  room,  and  the  talking 
nearly  ceased  —  the  parson  had  arrived.  As  his  tall 
form  and  cold,  severe  countenance  appeared  in  the 
hall,  a  change  fell  upon  the  spirits  of  the  company. 
He  bowed  stiffly,  and  turned  his  dull  grey  eye  search- 
ingly  upon  those  in  the  room.  That  face  will  become 
familiar  to  the  reader  — the  parson  is  Snyder 

The  marriage  ceremony  was  completed.     Conver- 


A    WEDDING    AT   THE    COTTAGE.  103 

sation  had  just  commenced  briskly  again,  when  the 
old  house-keeper  beckoned  Howard  from  tne  hall 
door.  As  he  passed  into  the  hall,  he  found  young 
Mason  expostulating  with  the  old  lady  about  the  wine 
question.  Mason  insisted  that  the  wish  of  Howard 
was  a  mere  whim,  and  that,  as  a  friend,  he  should 
take  the  liberty  of  sending  around  the  wine.  This 
the  old  lady  refused  assent  to  without  the  knowledge 
of  Howard,  and  so  beckoned  him  out. 

Upon  learning  the  reason  why  he  was  called  out, 
a  shade  of  anger  settled  upon  his  features,  and  he 
asked  sternly  why  the  matter  had  thus  been  broached, 
after  his  wishes  had  been  made  known. 

"  Nay,  but  you  must  pardon  us,"  replied  Mason. 
"  As  a  friend,  I  insist  that  on  this  occasion  you  shall 
not  persist  in  so  wide  a  departure  from  the  customs 
of  well-regulated  society.  You  wrong  yourself  and 
give  offence  to  your  friends.  The  people  will  think, 
Howard,  that  you  are  mad." 

"  I  do  not  see,"  replied  Howard,  promptly,  "  why 
the  people,  as  you  call  them,  should  interfere  or  med- 
dle with  a  matter  of  this  kind,  which  only  concerns 
me  and  mine.  I  have  my  own  reasons  for  this  de- 
parture from  what  you  call  the  customs  of  well-regu- 
lated society — a  custom,  however,  which,  permit  me 
honestly  to  affirm,  it  were  far  more  honorable  to  re- 
pudiate than  to  adopt.  If  you  are  my  friends,  you 
ought  not  to  insist  longer  upon  this  violatior  of  my 
earnest  wishes.  You  will  pardon  my  seeming 
warmth,  for  you  who  know  me  will  believe  that  I 


104  MINNIE   HERMON. 

have  reasons  for  my  course  which  are  satisfactory  to 
myself." 

Howard  turned  on  his  heel  and  was  passing  through 
Ihe  group  which  had  gathered,  when  Colonel  Weston 
came  up — he  having  learned  the  subject  under  dis- 
cussion. The  Colonel  was  an  impulsive,  frank,  bold 
man,  and  had  already  tested  the  wine  by  the  favor  of 
the  old  house-keeper. 

"  High  times,  indeed,  Howard,  when  you  delib- 
erately attempt  to  freeze  up  the  happiness  of  this  oc 
casion,  by  withholding  that  which  gives  joy  its  purest 
flow.  As  a  commanding  officer,  I  shall  order  you 
under  arrest,  and  declare  martial  law.  Mason,  fol- 
low me." 

With  a  laugh  and  a  graceful  bow,  Colonel  Weston 
turned  away,  followed  by  Mason.  Howard  passed 
slowly  into  the  parlor,  where  he  had  hardly  entered 
into  the  gayeties  of  the  occasion,  when  in  came  Wes- 
ton and  Mason,  with  the  server  and  wine.  A  deep 
red  flush  passed  over  Howard's  face  as  he  saw  them, 
and  his  eye  kindled  with  anger.  On  any  other  occa- 
sion he  would  have  openly  resented  the  insult.  But 
he  was  taken  by  surprise,  and  remained  in  his  seat, 
feeling  deeply  indignant. 

Weston  came  up  and  handed  the  wine  to  the  bride. 
She  looked  doubtingly  in  the  face  of  Howard,  and 
mechanically  took  a  glass  from  the  server. 

"  Nay,  my  noble  friend,"  said  Weston,  as  he  passed 
it  to  Howard,  "no  frowns,  for  I  am  alone  responsible. 
But,  sir,  you  surely  will  follow  Mrs.  Ho-vard's  exam- 


A    WEDDING   AT   THE   COTTAGE.  105 

pie,  and  take  a  glass  of  wine  on  your  wedding  night." 
There  was  a  silence  in  the  room  and  all  eyes  were 
turned  upon  the  parties.  More  especially  were  the 
guests  watching  Howard.  The  silence  was  embar- 
rassing, and  the  bride  looked  appealingly  to  him  to 
relieve  her  from  the  unpleasant  position.  The  wine 
trembled  in  her  hand,  and  the  smile  passed  from  her 
face  as  she  saw  the  half-sad,  half-angry  expression 
upon  that  of  her  husband. 

None  knew  the  mad  whirl  of  Howard's  thoughts, 
or  saw  the  dark  vision  passing  before  him.  Twenty 
years  later,  and  none  of  this  decision  and  moral  coui 
age  would  have  hesitated  a  moment.  But  an  old  and 
dangerous  custom  was  hanging  over  him,  and  he 
knew  not  which  way  to  turn  or  what  to  do.  His  bet- 
ter angel  bent  sadly  over  him,  watching  the  wily 
efforts  of  the  tempter  to  fasten  the  first  cords  of  the 
tatal  mesh  upon  a  new  victim. 

"Take  it,  Howard,"  urged  "Westou,  with  a  smile, 
"one  glass  would  not  harm  an  angel.  This  is  a  night 
and  an  occasion  to  honor  with  the  flowing  beaker. 
"We  must  wish  you  and  your  bride  long  years  of  hap- 
piness in  the  future  in  the  mellow  blood  of  the  grape. 
You  surely  will  not  disappoint  your  friends  on  your 
wedding  night." 

Weston  bent  his  eye  full  upon  Howard  with  a  win- 
ning smile,  and  held  the  full  glasses  nearer  to  him. 
Howard,  alone  within  himself,  wrestled  bravely 
against  the  wily  approach  of  the  insidious  enemy, 
and  he  lifted  his  eyes  to  his  bride,  the  full  round 


106  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

drops  stood  thickly  upon  a  brow  more  than  usually 
pale,  and  his  features  wore  an  expression  of  pain. 

"  Why,  how  ungallant  you  are — Doctor  Howard  re- 
fuse a  glass  of  wine  on  your  wedding  night,  and 
your  lady  waiting  your  action !  Colonel,  shall  we 
drink  to  the  bride  ?  Surely  so  lovely  a  one  deserves 
euch  a  compliment  upon  such  an  occasion." 

"Weston  followed  the  example  of  Miss  Anson,  and 
they  both  stood  with  glasses  in  hand.  The  bride 
leaned  towards  Howard  and  whispered  in  his  ear : 

"  One  glass  — just  this  once,  for  my  sake,  and  never 
again." 

"Never  again  !  " 

The  company  started  as  the  words  were  echoed  in 
a  deep  measured  tone  from  some  unknown  source. 
But  no  one  chose  to  speak  of  the  occurrence,  and  Misa 
Anson,  looking  towards  the  spot  where  the  parson 
was  standing,  said : 

"  You,  reverend  sir,  will  have  to  set  this  refractory 
gallant  an  example,  and  with  Weston  and  myself, 
drink  to  the  bride.  Should  he  not  drink  ?  " 

Elder  Snyder  stepped  forward  and  took  a  glass. 
Now,  at  the  appeal  of  the  bride,  however,  Howard 
had  reached  out  to  take  one  from  the  server,  when  the 
company  were  again  startled  by  that  mysterious 
voice. 

"  Touch  it  not !  " 

Elder  Snyder  frowned  and  raised  himself  to  his  full 
height,  as  he  turned  his  eyes  upon  all  in  the  room,  to 
see  who  had  dared  to  i  aterrupt  the  charm  which  was 


A   WEDDING   AT   THE   COTTAGE.  10? 

wea%'ing.  Pale  and  embarrassed,  Howard  sat  with 
the  cnp  in  his  hand,  that  gaze  still  fixed  upon  some 
scene  hidden  from  the  gaze  of  the  guests.  It  was  a 
scene  for  the  pencil.  The  party  had  gathered  in  a 
group,  the  tall  form  and  dark  features  of  the  false 
teacher,  the  manly-looking  Weston,  and  the  light  form 
of  the  beautiful  Miss  Anson  leaning  slightly  against 
his  shoulder,  the  lovely  bride,  and  the  victim  yielding 
slowly  to  the  coils  which  were  closing  round  him. 
It  was  a  noble  group  of  noble  men  and  fair 
women,  and  yet  one  over  which  a  good  angel  might 
have  wept. 

"  This,"  said  the  pastor,  as  he  held  the  glass  be- 
tween his  eyes  and  the  lamp,  "  is  one  of  the  good  gifts 
of  God  to  man,  the  blood  of  the  grape,  the  beverage 
of  the  high,  the  noble  and  the  good  of  all  ages.  It — • 

" And  of  the  lost  and  the  damned!" 

All  turned  to  see  whence  came  that  voice,  now- 
more  startingly  energetic  and  ringing  with  bitter- 
ness. A  deeper  frown  gathered  on  the  features  of 
Elder  Snyder,  and  he,  in  dogged  tones,  continued  : 

"  It  is  a  beverage  which  our  Saviour  used.  Ho 
made  it  at  the  wedding  (the  Elder  emphasized  the 
word,)  and  dispensed  it  at  the  last  supper.  The 
Scriptures  plainly  enjoin  the  use  of  wine.  Noah 
drinked  it,  it  was  given  to  those  that  were  ready  to 
perish,  it  maketh  the  heart  merry,  cureth  our  infirm- 
itieo,  and  causeth  the  poor  to  forget  his  poverty,  and 
the  afflicted  their  sorrow.  It  gives  a  man  strength 
and  jo;y,  and  enables  him  to  bear  more  cheerfully  the 


108  MINNIE    HERMON1. 

changing  scenes  of  life.  The  Redeemer  made  and 
drank  wine.  It  would  be  sinful  for  us  to  set  at 
naught  such  teachings,  and  put  away  so  great  a  bles- 
sing. I  will  drink  to  the  happiness  of  those  whom 
God  has  this  night  joined  together." 

Elder  Suyder  turned  off  the  wine  with  the  air  of 
one  who  expected  all  to  follow  his  example.  And 
they  all  did,  Howard  among  the  rest. 

"  At  last  it  stingeth  like  an  adder  and  hiteth  like  a 
serpent !  " 

"Who  is  that?"  angrily  asked  Elder  Snyder,  as 
that  strange  and  startling  voice  again  fell  like  a  ser- 
pent's hiss  upon  the  ears  of  the  company. 

"  The  lost  one  of  a  false  teacher !  "  slowly  came 
back  in  reply,  with  more  thrilling  distinctness  than 
before.  All  eyes  were  turned  toward  the  veranda 
window,  where  now  stood  a  tall,  broad-shouldered 
man,  dressed  in  a  coarse  suit  of  sailor's  clothes,  a 
weather-beaten  tarpaulin  on  his  head,  and  his  hair 
standing  out  wiry  and  matted  under  the  broad  brim. 
His  eye  was  grossly  red.  and  was  cast  full  upon  the 
group,  at  last  resting  keenly  and  firmly  upon  Elder 
Snyder.  There  was  a  fearful  intensity  in  the  gaze, 
and  the  sallow  features  of  the  pastor  reddened  and 
glowed  with  increased  anger. 

"  From  whence  do  you  come  and  why  are  ycu 
here  to  intrude  upon  respectable  people  ? "  angrily 
continued  Elder  Snyder,  as  he  walked  menacingly 
towards  the  window. 

"  Came  from  my  mother's  grave  to  see  a  wine-bib- 


A    WEDDING    AT   THE    COTTAGE.  109 

bing  priest,  and  only  one  glass  at  a  wedding!  — 
H&,  hat" 

The  strange  and  unaccountable  apparition  turned 
away,  and  that  peculiar  wild  and  sneering  laughter 
rung  shrill  upon  the  air,  and  fell  like  an  omen  of  evil 
npon  the  darkened  heart  of  Howard. 

—  "  Only  one  glass  !  "     And  will  it  be  so,  reader  ? 


CHAPTER   IX. 

FIRST    FRUITS. 

ON  the  morning  after  the  wedding,  Doctor  Howard 
arose  with  an  aching  head  and  troubled  thoughts. 
The  "  only  one  glass"  had  been  the  voice  of  the 
tempter;  but  once  launched  on  the  treacnerous  tide, 
he  was  driven  away  from  shore.  Friends  grew  more 
friendly  as  wine  went  round,  and  glass  followed  glass 
until  Howard  —  the  resolute  and  strong-willed  How- 
ard —  reeled  on  his  wedding  night.  He  became  wild 
as  the  subtle  currents  shot  through  his  veins,  and  by 
the  time  the  company  dispersed,  his  garrulous  and 
slavering  nonsense  had  pained  and  mortified  his  truest 
friends.  Yet  not  one  of  them  for  the  first  moment 
felt  that  they  had  contributed  to  the  disgrace  of  their 
friend.  But  such  things  were  not  looked  upon  then 
as  now,  and  the  guests  went  to  their  homes,  mellow 
themselves,  and  as  ready  to  get  mellow  again  on 
the  morrow. 

It  was  early  when  Howard  dressed  himself  and 
passed  out  into  the  cool  morning  air.  Its  breath  was 
grateful  to  his  hot  and  throbbing  brow,  but  it  reached 
not  the  throbbing  thoughts  in  his  heart.  "  As  you 
value  your  soul's  interest,  remember  your  motlier  — 
never  touch  the  intoxicating  cup  !  "  He  felt  the  words 
of  that  mother  burning  like  a  brand  upon  his  feverish 


A  COMMON  SIGHT    IN    OAKVALE. 


FIRST   FRUITS.  113 

cheek,  and  her  eyes  looking  into  his  heart.  In  a  let- 
ter left  for  his  perusal,  Howard  had  learned  the  his- 
tory of  his  mother —  the  ruin  and  horrible  death  of 
his  father ;  and  it  all  now  came  before  him,  until  ho 
shrunk  within  himself  as  from  accusing  spectres. 

The  man  who  never  takes  the  first  step  from  the 
path  of  right  is  never  endangered.  That  step  once 
taken,  others  follow  with  fearful  ease.  The  anchor 
once  lifted  from  the  heart's  integrity,  the  vessel  drifts 
away  before  the  storms  that  beat  in  from  every  quar- 
ter. To-day  a  man  stands  firm,  and  looks  proudly  in 
the  face  of  his  fellows,  and  feels  himself  a  man.  He 
has  his  own  self-respect.  To-morroM7  he  is  for  once 
induced  to  step  aside,  and  like  a  breach  in  the  wall 
the  enemy  comes  in  like  a  flood.  A  trifling  act  in 
itself — the  one  glass  drinked  with  a  friend, —may 
seal  the  fate  of  the  unwary. 

Howard  had  lost  strength.  He  had  been  beaten 
in  the  contest — beaten  when  he  felt  that  he  was 
right.  The  idea  of  being  a  drunkard  had  not  ye.t  oc- 
curred to  him.  It  was  only  his  own  loss  of  firmness 
and  self-respect,  and  a  shadowy  sense  of  some  un- 
known danger,  that  now  weighed  him  down. 

The  festivities  which  followed  the  wedding  were 
not  calculated  to  fasten  the  resolutions  which  weio 
giving  away.  Wine  was  everywhere,  and  everybody 
used  it.  He  himself  began  to  think  that  it  would  be 
a  bold  and  unpardonable  breach  of  custom  to  refuse 
it  with  his  friends.  The  decanter  and  tumbler  seemed 
to  be  the  insignia  of  fashionable  societv.  Thus  he 


114  MINKIE   HEKMON. 

reasoned  as  day  followed  day  and  glass  followed 
glass,  the  strong  and  noble  purpose  which  had  been 
BO  sacredly  cherished  to  the  noon  of  his  manhood, 
crowing  less  strong  under  the  steady  approaches  of 
the  tempter. 


On  the  day  after  the  meeting  of  the  board,  Howard 
was  riding  rapidly  up  the  road,  when  he  was  accosted 
from  the  steps  of  the  "  Home." 

"  Halloo,  Howard  !  Where  now  at  that  break-neck 
pace  ?  Hold  up  a  minute." 

The  voice  was  Colonel  Weston's,  and,  as  Howard 
turned  his  head,  he  saw  a  number  of  people  standing 
on  the  stoop.  His  first  impulse  was  to  put  spurs  to 
his  horse,  but  Weston  was  a  favorite  friend,  and  he 
reined  up.  As  "Weston  carm?  up  and  laid  his  hand 
on  the  mane  of  the  horse,  Howard  noticed  that  he 
was  considerably  under  the  influence  of  liquor.  There 
was  a  silly  leer  upon  his  countenance,  and  his  man- 
ner had  that  bold  and  half  insolent  air  about  it,  so 
contrary  to  his  usually  quiet  and  gentlemanly  de- 
meanor. 

"  Whoop  !  my  (hie)  —  boy,  which  way.  I  say  ?  " 
and  the  Colonel  grasped  tightly  the  arm  of  Howard, 
and  roughly  attempted  to  pull  him  from  the  saddle. 

"  1  beg  your  pardon,  Colonel,  but  you  will  not 
detain  me.  for  I  am  in  haste  to  call  on  a  sick  pa- 
tient. " 


FIRST    FRUITS.  115 

"Devil  take  your  patient;  you  must  get  oil'  and 
take  a  drink,"  and  again,  with  that  strong  grasp  pe- 
culiar to  drunken  men,  Weston  wrenched  him  nearly 
from  his  saddle 

"You  must  get  off  and  take  a  drink.  Why,  I 
haven't  seen  you  before  since  your  wedding.  Get 
off,  old  boy,  I  say,  .and  drink  with  us!"  and  he 
fetched  Howard  a  heavy  slap  on  the  thigh  with  the 
awkwardness  peculiar  to  those  in  liquor,  and  laughed 
boisterously. 

Howard  was  shocked,  and  mildly  essayed  to  re- 
lease himself  from  the  Colonel's  grasp. 

"  No  you  don't,  my  boy  ;  you  must  drink.  Soldiers, 
nnhorse  (hie)  him,"  and  he  led  the  horse  up  the  stepa 
into  the  stoop,  amid  the  laughter  of  the  half-drunken 
crowd. 

Howard  was  fairly  pulled  from  his  saddle  and  led 
into  the  bar-room  and  the  liquor  called  on. 

"One  drink,  Doctor,  with  your  friends,"  as  he 
bowed  and  played  the  buffoon  before  the  bar.  How- 
ard remained  silent  while  the  liquors  were  mixing. 
As  Weston  took  his  glass  from  the  counter,  he  again 
essayed  to  release  himself  by  pleading  haste  to  see 
his  patient. 

"  Xo  you  don't,  Doctor — you  must  drink  with  ns," 
end  ho  handed  another  glass  to  Howard. 

The  latter  took  it  mechanically,  and  was  about  to 
e.'-t  it  on  the  counter,  when  the  Colonel  grasped  it, 
and.  setting  down  his  own,  wound  his  left  arm  around 
Howard's  neck,  attempted  to  pour  the  liquor  down 


116  MINNIE    HERMOJNr. 

his  throat.  The  act  was  so  quick  that  the  latter  had 
not  time  to  close  his  month  before  the  glass  was  be- 
tween his  teeth,  and  the  liquor  running  down  his  face 
and  neck  into  his  bosom.  He  strangled  badly,  which 
pleased  the  rum-maddened  crowd  all  the  more 
Weston  was  wild  with  rum,  and  swore  that  Howard 
should  drink.  The  latter  grew  .indignant  and  began 
to  denounce  such  rudeness.  Weston  caught  another 
tumbler  of  the  liquor  which  had  been  prepared,  and 
sprung  upon  Howard  with  all  the  reckless,  frenzied 
strength  of  partial  intoxication,  crowding  the  glass 
against  his  lips  and  teeth  until  the  blood  mingled 
with  the  stains  of  the  brandy  from  the  corners  of  his 
mouth. 

"  By !  Doctor,  you  must  take  in  your  bits," 

continued  Weston,  and,  in  the  excitement  of  the  mo 
ment,  he  caught  Howard  by  the  throat,  and  continued 
pushing  the  now  empty  glass  into  his  open  and  bleed- 
ing mouth.  The  crowd  were  all  wild  with  merriment, 
and  stood  upon  the  chairs  and  benches  to  see  the 
sport.  Weston  set  the  glass  down  upon  the  counter 
and  called  for  more  liquor.  Herinon  poured  it  out. 
As  Weston,  with  his  hand  yet  clinched  in  the  Doc- 
tor's cravat,  was  passing  the  glass  again  to  his  lips, 
against  his  indignant  expostulations,  Howard  released 
his  right  arm  from  the  tipsy  fellow  who  was  holding 
it,  and  dealt  Weston  a  blow  on  the  temple  which  laid 
him  prostrate  on  the  floor.  Ther3  was  stillness  for  a 
moment,  and  Howard  was  released  from  the  grasp  of 
those  who  were  holding  him.  As  Weston  came  to 


K1KST    FRUITS.  117 

and  began  to  rise,  he  literally  frothed  with  rage,  and 
Bprnng  at  the  Doctor  like  a  madman.  The  latter 
evaded  his  clutch,  and  he  plunged  headlong  amongst 
the- crowd. 

"  For  shame  !  Are  ye  men  or  devils  ?  "  All  were 
startled  at  the  sound  of  a  female  voice,  and,  as  they 
turned,  saw  Minnie  Hermon  standing  in  the  stairway, 
pale  and  trembling,  but  her  eyes  kindling  at  the  scene 
before  her.  A  rocket  could  not  have  produced  more 
confusion  among  them.  The  majority  abruptly  went 
•out,  leaving  Weston,  now  abashed  and  cowering,  and 
Hermon,  alone  behind  the  bar.  Howard  wrashed  his 
face  at  the  pump  and  rode  away,  and,  as  he  thought 
over  the  scene  in  the  bar-room  of  the  "  Home,"  a  sigh 
came  from  his  heart  and  a  tear  from  his  eye.  He 
looked  at  his  bruised  hand,  and  wondered  how  he 
came  to  strike  one  he  esteemed  so  much. 

—  But  there  will  be  stranger  scenes  there. 

Deacon  McGrarr  lived  just  below  the  "  Home,"  and 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  the  affair  occurred 
which  we  have  related,  he  was  to  have  a  wagon-house 
raised.  As  a  matter  of  course,  rum  must  be  had  at  a 
"  raising."  A  two-gallon  jug  was  sent  to  the  "  Home  " 
and  filled,  and  the  hands  invited.  Deacon  McGarr 
had  drinked  liberally  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  day, 
and  felt  happy  and  witty.  About  one  o'clock  the 
hands  began  to  gather,  and  very  naturally  lingered 
on  the  stoop  and  steps  of  the  "Home."  When  the 
hour  came  for  commencing  operations,  McGarr  came 
over,  and,  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  the  new  tav- 


118  MINNIE    HEEMON. 

ern,  "  treated  all  round."  In  high  glee  the  company 
then  followed  him  to  the  ground  and  commenced 
operations. 

To  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  drinking  usdges 
of  other  days,  we  need  not  speak  in  detail  of  a  "  rais- 
ing." Enough  to  say  that  horns  of  whisky  were 
deemed  just  as  absolutely  necessary  as  pikes  or  pins. 
As  each  "bent"  was  raised  to  its  place,  the  jug  was 
u  passed  round  "  by  some  boy,  accompanied  by  one 
with  a  pail  of  cold  water.  As  soon  as  a  "  bent  "  was 
raised,  some  of  the  more  active  ones  mounted  to  the 
top.  By  the  time  the  plates  were  ready  to  go  on,  a 
number  were  thus  gathered  above,  and  the  jug  must, 
be  passed  up  and  welcomed  by  such.  Before  the 
building  was  all  up,  a  large  class  was  noisy  and 
mellow. 

Among  others  who  first  went  upon  the  frame,  was 
Weston.  Naturally  athletic,  he  now  felt  doubly  so 
under  the  influence  of  his  deep  potations.  MeGan 
would  have  persuaded  him  from  the  dangerous  risk, 
but  Weston  was  reckless. 

The  plates  were  framed  to  go  on  to  the  ends  of  the 
beams,  requiring  much  care  in  holding  them  and  en- 
tering the  tenons.  The  timbers  were  yet  damp  from 
the  rain  during  the  night,  and  required  caution  in 
handling  them  without  accident.  The  ends  of  the 
plates  were  first  carried  up  to  the  beams,  then  car- 
ried forward  and  balanced  up  and  shoved  to  their 
places,  preparatory  to  entering  the  tenons.  When 
ready  to  carry  out,  a  man  lay  down  and  locked  his 


HIIST  Fiicrrs.  119 

amis  around  the  beam,  and  with  his  feet  against  the 
plate,  pushed  it  as  it  lay,  as  near  the  tenons  as  was 
safe.  Weston  was  at  the  end,  and  straightened  with 
all  his  strength,  and  the  piece  slid  upon  the  slippery 
beam  near  a  foot  and  a  half  clear  from  his  feet.  A  dozen 
voices  from  below  earnestly  cautioned  him  to  be  care- 
ful— if  the  plate  should  go  off  it  would  kill  some  one. 

"  Let  'em  look  out  for  themselves,"  he  replied,  with 
a  peculiar  laugh,  and  again  backed  until  his  feet 
reached  the  timber,  and  then  straightened  with  all 
his  power.  There  was  a  yell  from  twenty  voices  be- 
low, and  the  heavy  stick  fell  to  the  ground.  A  sharp 
cry  of  pain  told  its  effect.  Hermon's  leg  was  under 
it,  and  ground  to  a  pumice.  The  groans  of  the 
wounded  man,  as  he  was  borne  bleeding  to  the 
"Home,"  sobered  Weston,  as  he  saw  the  result  of  his 
folly,  and  the  big  drops  gathered  on  his  brow.  Si- 
lently and  thoughtfully  he  went  from  the  frame,  and 
passed  after  the  group  to  the  tavern. 

"  Come,  boys,"  said  Gaston,  the  blacksmith,  "  we 
can  do  no  good  over  there,  let's  up  with  the  plate 
again,  and  put  on  the  rafters." 

Another  drink  round  and  they  took  hold  with  a 
will,  for  Gaston  set  them  an  example.  The  stick  was 
soon  in  its  place  and  the  rafters  up. 

Young  McGarr  was  the  last  one  standing  on  the 
ridge.  His  father  saw  that  he  had  drank  too  much, 
and  called  him  down.  He  started  to  obey,  but  met 
the  jug  again  coming  up,  and  took  a  drink  with  the 
rest.  The  hot  draught  made  him  bold  and  reckless,  and 


120  MINNIE    HERMON. 

ho  swore  he  would  walk  the  ridge-pole  with  jug  in 
hand  before  he  left  the  frame.  No  entreaty  or  threat- 
ening could  change  his  mad  determination,  and  he 
clambered  carelessly  to  the  ridge.  They  watched 
him  with  breathless  attention,  for  it  was  plain  to  see 
that  he  was  intoxicated.  Deacon  McGarr  was  pale, 
and  his  lip  was  pressed  between  his  teeth  until  the 
blood  started  from  under  them. 

Young  McGarr  succeeded  in  walking  the  entire 
length,  and,  as  he  arrived  at  the  end,  he  turned,  and, 
swinging  the  jug  in  the  air,  huzza'd  and  turned  it  up 
to  his  lips.  As  he  threw  his  head  back  in  the  act, 
he  fell  from  the  ridge,  his  head  striking  upon  a  green 
beech  log,  and  his  body  doubling  lifelessly  down  in  a 
heap.  McGarr  shrieked  and  jumped  to  save  his  boy, 
and  the  shriek  was  echoed  with  more  piercing,  soul- 
harrowing  distinctness  from  the  house,  where  the 
boy's  mother  had  been  watching  the  scene  with 
trembling  lips  and  limb.  Gastoii  lifted  the  boy  in 
his  arms,  leaving  masses  of  his  brains  upon  the  log 
and  ground,  and  the  blood  ebbing  out  with  a  spin- 
ning sound  from  the  crushed  head.  The  mother 
looked  once  upon  the  bleeding  and  disfigured  mass, 
and  sank  insensible  to  the  ground.  On  a  board  the 
crushed  boy  was  borne  to  the  house,  while  equally  as 
tenderly  the  corpse-like  mother  was  carried  after  in 
the  arms  of  Gaston.  Deacon  McGarr  followed  like  a 
child  in  his  first  great  sorrow.  The  jug  was  left  in 
fragments,  thickly  sprinkled  with  the  blood  of  the 
young  victim. 


CHAPTEK   X. 

THE   AFTI10K    TALKS A   LAPSE    OF  'TEN    YEAKS    IN   OUB 

HISTORY THE   CHANGE. 

IN  one  of  the  villages  of  Pennsylvania — it  is  writ- 
ten —  the  members  of  the  excise  board  were  assem- 
bled, as  usual,  for  the  purposes  of  granting  licenses 
for  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  After  smoking, 
and  chatting  upon  general  subjects  for  a  time,  the 
customary  motion  was  put,  and  opportunity  given  for 
remark.  Up  in  one  corner  of  the  room  the  attenua- 
ted form  of  a  woman  arose,  spectral-like  in  features, 
and  meanly  clad,  and  looking  upon  the  members  pres- 
ent from  sockets  hollow  and  ghastly.  In  tones  of 
sadness,  growing  more  full  and  intense  as  she  pro- 
ceeded, the  strange  intruder  commenced  a  history  of 
sorrow,  of  ruin  and  wrong,  which  fell  upon  the  aston 
ished  group  like  a  spell.  Her  form  raised  as  she 
gathered  strength,  and  her  tones  grew  fierce,  and  a 
hectic  flush  came  out  upon  the  palid  cheek.  Fixed 
to  their  seats  and  gazing  upon  the  kindling  eye,  the 
excisemen  listened  to  the  blistering  record.  Prom 
the  smouldering  ruins  of  life's  hopes  blasted,  the  sca- 
thing truths  leaped  out.  She  had  heard  of  their 
meeting,  and  from  the  almshouse  came  forth  to  de- 
nounce the  wickedness  they  were  about  to  commit. 
Hers  had  been  the  history  of  thousands — a  history 


122 


MINNIE   1IEKMON. 


now  being  wrought  out  in  thousands  of  hearts  and 
homes.  Across  the  river,  a  luxurious  home,  a  noble 
husband,  and  three  promising  sons  had  woven  her 
life's  happiness  with  the  golden  woof  of  light  and 
love.  They  were  tempted  and  fell.  The  home  pass- 
ed into  the  tempter's  hands,  her  husband  and  children 
to  premature  graves,  and  she  to  the  pauper's  home. 
Years  of  darkness  and  anguish  could  be  known  only 
to  the  God  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless.  "  You 
gee  me  now,"  she  continued,  with  her  tall  form  lean- 
ing forward  and  her  long  finger  extended  and  trem- 
bling with  emotion,  resting  unerringly  upon  the  mem- 
bers of  the  board,  "  and  know  from  whence  I  come. 
You  know  my  history,  and  how  bitterly  all  my  hopes 
of  this  world  have  been  wrecked.  And  you,  sirs, 
caused  it  all.  At  your  store  my  husband  learned  to 
drink,  and  you  dwell  in  my  home.  You,  false  teach- 
er," pointing  to  a  deacon,  "  lured  my  noble  boys  to 
your  grocery,  and  they  now  are  in  drunkards'  graves. 
You  destroyed  them.  But  for  you,  husband,  sons  — 
all  might  have  now  blessed  my  old  age.  I  have  come 
from  the  county  poor-house  to  lift  a  voice  against 
your  acts.  Look  at  me,  and  then  if  you  dare,  before 
high  Heaven,  grant  licenses  to  sell  intoxicating 
drinks ! " 

The  silence  of  death  rested  upon  the  listeners  to 
the  pauper's  freezing  words,  interrupted  only  as  one 
^fter  another  of  the  .cowering  officials  stole  like  guilty 
^•retches  from  the  room,  not  staying  to  accomplish 
foe  work  for  which  they  assembled.  From  her  quiv- 


THE  ADTHOR  TALKS THE  CHANGE.       123 

ering  finger  the  words  had  fallen  like  drops  of  blis 
tering  lava  into  their  coward  hearts. 

As  the  mind  has  swept  back  through  the  history 
of  the  past,  we  have  often  thought  of  the  pauper  and 
her  speech.  If  those  who  suffer  —  if  the  ragged  and 
the  sorrowing,  should  come  from  their  abodes  of 
wretchedness,  where,  unseen,  the  scalding  tear  and  the 
heavy  sigh  mark  the  crushing  progress  of  woe,  and 
in  squalid  garb  and  touching  mien,  gather  around  the 
excise  boards  of  our  country,  and  raise  their  protest 
against  the  wrong,  we  doubt  whether  there  is  a  mem- 
ber of  these  bodies  so  utterly  lost  to  every  feeling  of 
sympathy  and  shame  as  to  put  his  name  to  the  license 
of  death.  Let  the  sorrowing  mother  upon  her  staff, 
with  her  thin,  white  hairs,  going  down  in  sorrow  to 
the  grave,  totter  to  the  board,  and  with  a  dim  eye  and 
shaking  voice,  speak  of  children  murdered,  and  an 
old  heart  running  over  with  bitter  memories.  Let  a 
wife  steal  forth  from  a  home  where  a  husband- 
demon  reigns  in  the  domestic  hell.  Yoked  to  a  living 
corpse,  she  stands  up  with  a  ragged  babe  in  her  arms 
• — a  weeping  heart  attempting  to  shield  the  tenderest 
and  most  innocent  of  her  idols  from  the  storm  —  and 
with  every  hope  buried  in  ruin,  she  demands  why 
her  home  is  desolated,  her  heart  broken,  and  hei 
babes  robbed  of  bread.  The  sister  comes,  and  with 
wringir.g  hands  claims  that  the  noble  and  manly -heart- 
ed brother  should  be  restored,  for  she  has  wept  over 
him  and  clung  to  him  with  a  sister's  changeless  love — 
lior  tears,  and  prayers,  and  holy  affection  weaker  than 


124  MINNIE    HHRMON. 

the  gossamer  web  against  the  stronger  than  iron 
chains  that  bound  him.  Orphan  children  throng  from 
hut  and  hovel,  and  public  asylum,  and  lift  their  child- 
ish hands  in  supplication,  asking  at  the  hands  of  the 
guilty,  those  who  rocked  their  cradles,  and  fed,  and 
loved  them.  The  maniac  comes,  a*nd  in  insane  gib- 
berish and  glaring  eye,  stares  upon  the  "  Court  of 
Death."  The  murderer,  now  sober  and  crushed,  lifts 
his  manacled  hands,  red  with  blood,  and  charges 
his  ruin  —  his  own  and  his  children's  infamy,  upon 
those  who  commission  the  Angel  of  the  Plague.  The 
felon  comes  from  his  prison  tomb,  the  pauper  from  his 
dark  retreat,  where  rurn  has  driven  him  to  seek  an 
evening's  rest  and  a  pauper's  grave.  From  the  grave 
the  sheeted  dead  stalk  forth,  and  in  spectral  ranks 
gather  around  the  scene,  the  eyeless  sockets  turned 
upon  the  actors,  and  the  bared  teeth  grinning  most 
ghastly  scorn.  The  lost  float  up  in  shadowy  forms, 
and  wail  in  whispered  despair.  Demons,  who  rejoice 
in  wrongs  which  make  men  more  devilish  than  they, 
blush  at  the  more  than  infernal  wrong.  Angels 
turn  weeping  away,  and  wonder  that  man  can  love 
his  brother  man,  and  still  license  the  destruction  of 
his  hopes  for  two  worlds.  God  upon  his  throne  looks 
in  anger  upon  the  stupendous  iniquity,  and  hurls  a 
woe  upon  the  hand  which  putteth  the  bottle  to  a 
neighbor's  lip  to  make  him  drunken.  Were  every 
excise  board  girt  by  such  an  array,  no  man  on  earth 
would  make  himself  an  instrument  in  all  tnis  destruc- 
tion. But  their  guilt  is  really  the  same.  The  injured 


THE  AUTHOR  TALKS THE  CHANGE.       125 

old  mothers,  the  wives  and  the  sisters,  are  found 
wherever  rum  is  sold.  The  orphans  plead  eloquently 
in  every  community.  The  asylum,  the  alms-house, 
the  dungeon  and  the  scaffold  bear  their  evidence, 
written  in  the  unmistakable  language  of  tears  and 
blood.  The  dead  heave  their  sodded  graves  on  every 
hand,  and  revelation  turns  shudderingly  away  from 
the  dark  future  of  the  thousands  who  die  as  the 
months  roll  round,  while  above,  a  God  who  counts  the 
sparrows  as  they  fall,  sits  in  judgment  and  takes  note 
of  all.  And  yet  —  we  write  with  a  burning  cheek  — 
the  excise  boards  of  a  free  people  meet  with  cool  in- 
difference and  ask  of  a  reckless  few,  "  How  many 
pieces  of  silver  will  you  give  us  if  we  will  betray  the 
wives  and  the  children  —  the  helpless  and  the  inno- 
cent, into  your  hands  —  How  many!"  The  tribute 
is  paid,  and  the  people,  with  the  price  of  blood  in 
their  coffers,  hold  the  garments,  while  their  licensed 
instruments  stone  men,  women  and  children  to  death ! 

— No  sane  man  on  earth,  if  the  fountains  of  evil 
were  forever  sealed,  would  ask  that  they  might  be 
again  opened.  Then  why,  in  the  name  of  crushed 
humanity  and  a  hoped-for  heaven,  will  men  cling  to 
the  waning  destinies  of  the  monster  iniquity  ? 

The  pursuit  of  an  honorable  avocation  is  a  benefit 
to  community.  In  the  intercourse  of  trade,  there  \% 
an  equivalent  rendered.  The  interests  of  the  produ- 
cer and  the  consumer  are  mutually  advanced.  In 
dustry  produces  an  aggregate  prosperity  and  secures 
a  prompt  and  adequate  reward.  Upright  and  perse- 


120  MINNIE    HKRMON. 

vering  labor,  in  any  branch  of  business,  vibrates 
through  the  whole  social  system,  and  helps  to  build 
up,  adorn,  and  strengthen  every  honorable  interest. 
The  craftsman,  the  merchant,  the  professional  man, 
tlie  agriculturist  —  all  who  live  by  honest  toil,  are 
benefactors,  and  each  fills  an  appropriate  and  neces- 
sary place  in  the  social  structure.  There  is  no  special 
regulation  of  these  interests.  They  are  useful  and 
indispensable.  Their  pursuit  tends  to  the  general 
good.  They  do  not  exist  or  prosper  at  the  ruin  or 
extinction  of  others.  The  tradesman  does  not  find 
the  mercantile  profession  a  legalized  monopoly,  and 
himself  precluded,  by  penal  statutes,  from  selling 
such  as  his  neighbors  sell.  Talent  and  application 
master  the  legal  and  the  medical  professions,  and  the 
young  man  goes  out  to  build  up  his  fortunes  where- 
ever  his  prospects  lure  the  brightest.  The  blacksmith 
asks  no  license  to  wield  his  hammer.  The  farmer 
does  not  annually  ask  and  pay  for  a  permit  to  put  ii 
his  crops,  to  harvest  and  to  sell.  Whoever  buys  of 
him  gets  an  equivalent  for  his  money ;  and  order,  har- 
mony and  increase,  mark  the  machinery  of  society. 
But  what  a  disturbing  element  is  rum,  in  all  soci 
ety  !  It  is  the  Pandorian  box  of  unadulterated  evil, 
with  hardly  a  hope  at  the  bottom.  Nowhere  on  the 
green  earth  of  God  has  it  proved  other  than  an  un- 
icixed  curse.  There  is  not  a  redeeming  fact  in  its 
history.  A  darker,  more  cheerless,  beaconless  waste, 
never  stretched  away  before  the  misguided  pilgrim 
There  is  n  ot  a  ray  of  sunshine  in  ages  of  gloom.  The 


-THE  AUTHOR  TALKS THE  CHANGE.       127 

most  ardent  and  honest  friend  of  the  rum  traffic  can- 
not point  to  one  blessing  it  has  conferred  upon  man 
since  its  first  footprints  cursed  the  earth.  "We  have 
seen  the  system  in  its  palmy  days,  but  it  was  the 
plague  in  mid-day  strength,  stalking  from  house  to 
house,  its  presence  withering  the  greenness  of  the 
happiest  life,  and  filling  the  land  with  wailing  and 
unutterable  woe.  Commissioned  by  government,  it 
has  gone  forth,  the  Angel  of  the  Plague,  and  happy 
for  hearts  and  homes,  if  they  mourned  for  none  but 
the  first-born.  In  palace  or  hovel  —  in  wealth  or 
want,  the  shadow  has  fallen  upon  man  and  his  hopes, 
Jie  one  to  sicken  and  die,  and  the  other  to  wither. 
It  enters  society  branded  as  an  enemy.  The  very  power 
which  sends  it  to  our  villages  and  hamlets,  has  writ- 
ten its  character.  It  glides  over  our  threshold  in  fet- 
cers,  society  mockingly  decking  its  tail  with  legula- 
ting  enactments,  and  leaving  every  fang  bared  for 
the  work  of  death,  and  from  tens  of  thousands  of 
retreats  endorsed  and  protected  by  government,  the 
monsters  go  hissing  forth  with  the  injunction  to  deso- 
late and  kill  within  the  prescribed  limits,  and  accord- 
ing to  law.  The  thief  is  imprisoned  and  the  murder- 
er is  put  out  of  the  way  ;  but  here  is  a  worse  than  a 
thief  or  a  murderer  —  the  subtle  embodiment  of  all 
crime;  allowed  to  carry  on  its  devilish  work  under  re- 
strictions, and  the  effects  sanctioned  by  legislation. 
It  never  yet  entered  a  community  without  proving  a 
curse.  Some  man  has  been  degraded ;  some  wife 
has  been  made  to  weep  in  anguish ;  some  child  has 


128  MINNIE   HERMON. 

been  turned  out  of  door  to  go  hungry  for  bread ; 
some  pauper  lias  been  sent  to  the  almshouse,  or  felon 
to  the  dungeon  ;  some  scene  of  blood  and  violence 
has  been  perpetrated,  and  the  maddened  .instrument 
sent  to  the  scaffold ;  some  family  has  prematurely 
found  a  rest  in  the  grave,  and  an  escape  from  •woes 
which  will  ever  beggar  description. 

Oakvale  was  not  an  exception.  A  lovelier,  me  re 
peaceful  hamlet  of  happy  settlers,  was  never  hidden 
among  the  hills.  Tears  went  by,  and  scarce  a  cloud 
had  fallen  upon  the  cordial  and  friendly  intercourse 
which  had  marked  the  history  of  the  mountain  re- 
treat. The  lives  of  the  people  passed  with  the  calm- 
ness and  purity  of  a  summer's  day.  Scarce  a  ripplo 
disturbed  the  sylvan  quiet  of  the  scene.  Industry, 
virtue,  integrity  and  kindly  feeling  marked  the  un- 
restrained intercourse  of  the  genial  and  true-hearted 
people.  The  streets  were  quiet,  only  as  stirred  by  the 
silver-voiced  happiness  of  the  schoolchildren,  and  the 
game  of  ball,  the  wrestle,  or  the  leaping  match,  were 
the  noisiest  sports  which  awoke  the  quiet  of  the  vil- 
lage green.  The  path  to  the  village  church  was  well 
beaten,  and  all  was  neat  about  the  unpretending 
structure.  The  dwellings  wore  an  air  of  comfort  and 
thrift,  and  the  yards  and  grounds  were  neat  and  at- 
tractive. The  Sunday  school  was  full,  the  Sabbath 
universally  regarded,  and  the  old-fashioned  notions  of 
truth  and  honor  deeply  rooted  in  a  majority  of  hearts. 
Age  was  respected,  and  the  white-haired  grand-sirea 
went  do\vn  to  their  graves  like  the  shocks  fully  ripened 


THE  AUTHOR  TALKS— -THE  CII YNGE.       129 

for  thlMiarvest.  The  moustache  and  the  rattan  were 
unknown  —  the  dice  table,  and  the  saloon.  Tho 
young  men  were  stalwart  framed  and  industrious. 
Pianos,  fashionable  calls,  and  indolence  in  the  parlor^ 
were  scarcely  known,  and  yet  there  was  true  refine- 
ment ;  and  from  the  kitchen,  full,  rounded  forms  and 
hearts  all  womanly  passed  out  to  mingle  better  cur- 
rents in  the  busy  world.  Litigation  was  unknown  ; 
for  each  minded  his  own  affairs,  kept  his  fences  up, 
kept  his  cattle  and  hogs  within  bounds,  and  treated 
his  neighbor  with  kindness  and  sincerity.  No  gun 
ever  broke  upon  the  Sabbath  stillness,  nor  boisterous 
gathering  filled  the  streets  ;  but  the  seasons  came  with 
their  promise,  and  its  harvest  fulfillment,  their  flockg 
and  herds,  and  household  industry  prospered,  and 
peace,  plenty,  and  contentment,  the  love  of  virtue 
and  the  fear  of  God,  made  Oakvale  a  spot  where  the 
current  of  life  coursed  ever  with  an  even  flow. 

It  was  years  afterwards,  and  when  the  population 
and  business  of  Oakvale  had  greatly  increased,  that 
the  "Home"  was  opened  in  the  village.  Ten  yeara 
more  had  gone  by,  and  what  a  transformation  !  It 
seemed  incredible,  and  the  stranger  who  saw  it  in  its 
earlier  history,  would  look  sadly  upon  the  change,  and 
believe  it  wrought  by  some  infernal  magic.  The 
rural  neatness  and  quiet  were  there  no  more.  The 
"Home"  was  a  floodgate  through  which  a  thou- 
sand pernicious  and  evil  influences  swept  in  upon  the 
society  of  the  peaceful  vale,  a  fatal  undercurrent,  un- 
dermining industry  and  virtue,  and  mingling  the 


130  MINNIE   HERMON. 

most  corrupting  influences  with  the  thoughts  and 
habits  of  the  people.  From  occasional  visits  to  the 
tavern,  the  practice  increased,  until  scarce  one  of  the 
male  population  was  not  in  the  habit  of  spending  his 
evenings  at  the  tavern.  A  love  of  gossip  was  soon 
engendered,  and  every  man's  business  and  conduct 
was  at  times  made  the  subject  of  conversation.  In 
the  conversation  of  the  people,  the  change  was  as 
marked  as  in  everything  else.  As  the  youth  and  the 
children  listened,  they  caught  the  infection,  and  the 
oath,  the  rude  and  coarse  speech,  came  from  mouths 
prematurely  foul  by  bad  example  and  association. 
Ill-breeding  soon  marked  the  language  of  the  boys, 
and  slang  phrases  were  current  and  eagerly  learned 
and  banded  with  a  gusto.  A  low-bred  pettifogger 
had  followed  in  the  wake  of  "  business,"  arid  petty 
lawsuits  were  frequent,  and  always  held  at  the  tav- 
ern, drawing  a  crowd  whenever  held.  Fights  were 
of  common  occurrence,  or  petty  disputes  engendered 
in  ill  blood  ;  and  discord  crept  strangely  in  between 
families  where  years  of  uninterrupted  harmony  had 
marked  their  intercourse.  Additional  liquor  shops, 
under  the  euphonious  name  of  "  saloons,"  had  been 
opened,  "  ball-alleys  "  and  "  billiard-rooms."  These 
places  .were  a  rendezvous  on  the  Sabbath,  the  youth 
deserting  the  church  for  the  dram-shop.  They  are 
ever  craters  of  obscenity  and  profanity,  and  the  youth 
of  Oakvale  were  fast  graduating  in  these  devilish 
schools.  The  nights  were  occasionally  hideous  with 
unearthly  yellings.  Balls  and  "  oyster  parties  "  were 


THE  AUTHOR  TALKS THE  CHANGE.       131 

frequent,  and  respectable  voting  men,  at  such  times 
were  seen  intoxicated.  The  blacksmith  was  often 
seen  setting  upon  the  steps  of  the  "  Home  "  in  his 
leathern  apron,  and  customers  coming  from  his  shop 
after  him.  The  miller  would  leave  his  grist,  an 
staid  farmers  would  turn  aside  from  their  business 
and  drink,  and  spend  an  hour  in  chat.  Company 
and  general  parades  were  now  held  at  Oakvale,  elec- 
tions, town-meetings,  etc.,  and  drunkenness  was  com- 
mon. Horse-racing,  also,  was  frequent,  and  "  turkey 
shoots,"  raffling  and  drinking,  with  frequent  quarrels, 
and  now  and  then  a  fight,  contributed  to  demoralize 
the  habits  and  foster  the  worst  elements  of  those  en- 
gaged in  them. 

"  Business  "  had  surely  increased  in  Oakvale,  and 
to  the  tavern  belonged  the  credit.  The  change 
wrought  in  a  few  years  was  broad  and  impressive. 
The  farms  were  neglected,  the  fences  out  of  repair, 
and  the  yards  and  corners  of  the  fences  grown  up 
to  weeds.  The  barns  and  outhouses  were  dilapida- 
ted—  boards  off,  and  hovels  unroofed.  Hardly  a 
farm  retained  the  well-ordered  and  tidy  appearance 
of  industrious  care,  so  conspicuous  at  the  commence- 
ment of  our  history.  Clap-boards  were  off,  chimney 
tops  crumbling  away,  and  window-panes  broken,  old 
hats  and  rags,  and  pieces  of  board,  indicating,  in  un- 
mistakable .anguage,  the  cause  of  all.  Some  houses 
were  entirely  in  ruins,  and  the  rank  dock  standing 
thickly  in  the  yard,  and  the  winds  of  winter  whistling 
through  the  shattered  structures.  Fences  were  down 


]32  MINNIE   ITEEMON. 

and  fields  t  irned  to  waste ;  the  path  to  the  church 
was  overgrown  with  grass,  and  the  sheds  were  falling 
to  pieces,  and  the  steps  decaying,  and  the  weather- 
beaten  blinds  unhinged,  or  slamming  in  the  winds. 
The  topmost  section  of  the  steeple  had  rotted  and 
been  blown  off  in  a  storm,  and  the  bell,  rusty  and 
bare,  frowned  silently  down  upon  the  general  deso- 
lation. The  lightning-rod  had  been  broken,  and  the 
end  swung  loose  and  unconnected.  The  village  bu- 
rial-ground had  not  escaped.  Length  after  length 
of  the  board  fence  had  fallen,  and  the  cattle  from 
the  streets  had  broken  the  stones,  and  the  hogs  had 
rooted  over  the  grounds.  Unruly  boys  had  torn 
away  the  school-house  shed,  while  whole  clapboards 
had  been  stripped  from  the  building  itself,  the  lath 
and  the  protruding  mortar  and  naked  studs,  present- 
ing to  the  passer-by  the  very  picture  of  neglect. 

But  if  the  footsteps  of  intemperance  were  so  blight- 
ing upon  the  appearance  of  buildings  and  fields,  it 
was  still  more  marked  upon  the  population.  The 
pathways  to  the  groggeries  were  well  beaten  by  the 
traveling  public.  Farms,  shops  and  professions,  were 
neglected.  The  happiest  home  had  lost  its  attrac- 
tions. The  ruddy  flame  upon  the  evening  hearth,  the 
holy  communion  of  the  family  circle,  or  the  change- 
less ties  of  conjugal  affection,  were  rent  like  threads 
for  the  false  light  of  the  dramshop.  Even  the  church 
could  not  stay  the  work  ;  its  aisles  had  long  been  si- 
lent ;  the  dust  had  gathered  upon  its  communion 
altar  and  its  Bible,  and  the  spider  spun  his  web  in  the 


THE  AUTHOR  TALKS- — THE  CHANGE.       133 

pulpit  unmolested.  For  ns  with  red  and  watery  eyes, 
hats  with  torn  crowns,  broken  tops  and  distorted 
br'ras  ;  garments  thread-bare  and  ragged,  the  panta- 
loons fagged  at  the  ancle  and  lodged  upon  gringy- 
looking  boots  run  over  at  the  heel ;  with  swollen 
cheeks,  and  hands  thrust  to  the  elbows  into  their 
pockets,  were  constantly  stealing  to  the  dram-shops. 
By  daylight,  and  before  a  chimney  top  had  sent  up  a 
wreath  of  smoke,  they  could  be  seen  standing  by  the 
dens,  or  knocking  for  admittance,  creeping  about  over 
the  stoops  in  the  meantime,  and  shivering  in  tho 
keen  morning  cold  of  the  winter.  How  quickly 
their  ears  detected  the  sound  of  the  bolt  as  it  was 
drawn,  and  as  quickly  tossing  the  quid  into  the  street 
and  fetching  their  hand  across  their  thigh  as  a  nap- 
kin, cleared  their  throats  and  entered.  They  came 
out  with  the  palms  drawn  across  their  lips,  gave  the 
hoarse  ahem,  and  in  the  same  manner  retraced  their 
steps  to  their  doors.  Women,  with  countenances  pale 
and  furrowed  with  sorrow  and  care,  and  wrapped 
closely  in  scanty  garb,  were  seen  gliding  gloomily 
through  the  streets  ;  and  children,  their  uncovered 
hands  purple  in  the  cold,  and  their  little  forms  shrink- 
ing at  every  breath,  and  often  bending  under  the 
burden  of  the  jug,  thus  bearing  to  their  own  homes 
the  cause  of  their  own  wretchedness  and  hunger. 

"  Business  "  had  increased  !  Oakvale  had  become 
a  shire  town,  and  two  railroads  had  opened  broad 
thoroughfares  to  and  from.  A  courthouse  and  jail 
had  been  erected,  and  the  new  state-prison  buildings 


134  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

were  rapidly  going  up.  Men  had  died  in  the  drunk- 
en brawl,  by  delirium  tremens,  and  in  the  winter's 
path  ;  the  widow  and  her  children  had  gone  out  from 
their  broken  homes  to  seek  an  asylum  in  the  county 
poor-house  ;  felons  were  in  the  jail,  or  at  work  on  the 
prison  walls,  and  red-handed  murder  had  lifted  a  drip- 
ping hand  at  noonday,  and  the  people  were  feasted 
with  a  view  of  the  scaffold  and  its  dangling  tribute. 
A  score  of  groggeries  were  seething  and  united  in  the 
work  of  ruin,  and  Oakvale  had  become  a  byword  and 
reproach  throughout  the  country  for  drunkenness  and 
all  its  consequent  and  kindred  evils.  The  change  waa 
a  sad  one,  indeed.  And  yet  no  plague  had  come 
from  the  hand  of  God  to  destroy  the  people  ;  no  storm 
had  swept  down  their  fences  or  unroofed  their  barns 
and  hovels;  and  the  seasons  had  ever  brought  the 
seed  time  and  harvest.  But  the  blight  was  there.  It 
rested  upon  house,  and  field,  and  toil ;  hunger  and 
wretchedness  brooded  at  the  hearth  ;  families  were 
scattered,  and  fields  turned  to  waste ;  and  want,  mis- 
ery, indolence  and  vice  resting  like  a  deathly  night- 
mare upon  the  quiet  and  happy  hamlet  of  "  long  ago,;j 
—  "  Business  "  was  increasing ! 


CHAPTER    XI. 

A   WINTER   SCENE. 

IT  waa  in  early  winter,  and  the  hubs  lay  up  rough 
and  bare  through  the  snow.  The  wind  was  cutting 
cold,  and  shrieked  dismally  as  it  swept  around  the 
"  Home."  Scattering  flakes  of  snow  were  sifting  from 
the  cold  and  sombre  sky.  People  were  already  gath- 
ering in  the  bar-room,  for  nearly  every  citizen  in  the 
place  had  learned  to  love  his  drams  ;  and  the  fire 
shone  most  welcomely  in  the  old-fashioned  hearth. 
Hermon,  just  recovered,  in  a  measure,  from  a  severe 
fit  of  sickness,  was  kneeling  before  a  keg,  drawing 
his  morning  bitters.  One  after  another  the  customers 
went  up  to  the  bar  and  followed  the  example,  con- 
versation flowing  more  fluently  as  the  liquor  com- 
menced its  effects. 

"  Did  you  see  Mat  Ricks  when  he  went  away  last 
night  ? " 

"Yes  — what  of  it?" 

"  Why,  he  was  most  devilish  drunk,  if  Pm  any 
judge." 

"  No  live  man  a  better  judge,"  dryly  remarked  old 
Barney  Kits,  already  intoxicated,  and  his  lidless  balls 
running  water  before  the  fire.     A  laugh  followed  the 
hit,  and  the  speaker  continued  : 
6 


186  MINNIE   HEEMON. 

"  Old  Ricks  has  made  a  perfect  fool  of  himself 
latoly.  He  drinks  like  a  fish.  They  say  he  abnsea 
his  family,  too,  most  shamefully." 

"He  is  not  the  only  one  who  does  that,"  again  put 
in  old  Kits.  Lame  Tim,  the  speaker,  turned  an  angry 
eye  upon  his  tormentor,  and  chewed  his  tobacco 
nervously  ;  yet  he  dare  not  measure  wit  with  the  in- 
veterate wag,  as  drunk  as  he  was. 

"  How  is  it,  Tim,"  asked  Gaston,  "  has  old  Ricks' 
farm  all  gone  ?  " 

"  O,  yes,  all  gone  to.smash  ;  —  nothing  left  at  all. 
I  knew  'twould  be  so." 

"  But  his  wife  had  property  ? " 

"  Went  with  the  rest.     Jones  has  got  it  all." 

"  Sold  his  water  and  whisky  well,"  put  in  old 
Barney. 

"  But  what  will  become  of  his  family  ?  " 

"  Go  to  the  poor-house,  of  course.  I  guess  the  old 
woman  will  come  down  some  in  her  notions  after  this. 
Always  was  mighty  nice  feelin'.  After  all,  I  could  n't 
help  kind  o'  pittyin'  on  her  when  she  came  down  here 
and  cried,  and  took  on  so  about  the  spoons  her  mother 
gave  her  —  swow  I  could  n't." 

A  scowl  from  old  Hermcn  told  garrulous  old  Tim 
that  he  had  gone  too  far,  and  he  changed  the  subject 
by  taking  another  drink. 

Doctor  Howard  at  that  moment  drove  up,  and  en- 
tered the  bar-room  in  his  bundle  of  furs,  calling  for  a 
h6t  punch.  While  warming  himself,  he  remained 
silent  and  thoughtful.  This  was  enough  for  Tim 


A   WINTER   SCENE.  137 

He  must  know  who  was  sick,  what  ailed  him,  and 
how  long  they  were  going  to  live  ;  and  with  a  pre- 
paratory ahem,  he  commenced : 

"  Anybody  sick  this  morning,  Doctor?" 

"  No  more  than  usual." 

"  I  thought  ma'be  somebody  might  be  ailin'  this 
mornin'." 

"  I'presume  there  is,"  and  the  sententious  Doctor 
continued  to  nib  his  hands  before  the  welcome  blaze. 

"  Come  from  over  the  hill  ? " 

"  Came  from  over  the  hill." 

Old  Barney  grinned,  and  attempted  to  wink  at  the 
discomfited  Tim.  But  the  latter  loved  news  next  to 
a  dram,  and  he  returned  to  the  attack. 

"  Plaguy  cold  this  morning,  Doctor  !  " 

"Exactly  —  found  that  out  myself." 

"  Anybody  sick  over  the  hill  ?" 

"  Nobody  sick  —  all  dead." 

"Why,  nobody  but  old  Ricks'  folks  lived  there. ' 

"Exactly  —  and  the  folks  are  dead,  or  will  be." 

"  You  don't  say  so !     How  'd  they  die  ? " 

"  Go  and  see,"  and  with  the  curt  answer,  Doctor 
Howard  jumped  into  his  sleigh  and  left. 

There  was  truth  in  his  briefly  told  story.  On  tho 
previous  evening,  Ricks,  with  his  father,  an  old  rev- 
olutionary soldier,  had  caroused  at  the  "  Home  "  un- 
til a  late  hour,  and  with  a  jug  apiece,  had  started  out 
in  the  storm,  amid  many  a  drunken  gibe  as  they  stum- 
bled over  the  hubs.  In  crossing  the  mountain  at  day- 
light, Doctor  Howard  had  found  the  old  man,  lying 


138  MINNIE   HERMON. 

upon  his  face,  frozen  to  death  !  He  had  struggled 
\vhere  he  had  fallen  until  the  hubs  were  crimsoned 
with  blood,  and  his  face  most  horribly  bruised.  His 
hat  lay  crushed  under  his  shoulders,  and  the  handle 
of  the  broken  jug  was  grasped  firmly  in  death.  The 
snow  had  lodged  in  his  thin  white  locks,  but  his  bald 
head  was  as  bare  to  the  night  blast  as  the  crag  above 
him.  Doctor  Howard  turned  his  horse  and  drove 
over  the  brow  of  the  hill  to  the  dwelling.  A  childish 
voice  bade  him  "  come  in,"  in  answer  to  his  rap,  and 
as  he  entered,  crept  into  the  farther  corner. 

Doctor  Howard  was  used  to  scenes  of  distress,  but 
he  hesitated  on  the  threshold,  and  stared  for  a  full 
moment  as  he  stood.  It  was  but  a  moment,  however, 
and  he  quickly  asked  the  boy  what  it  all  meant.  He 
only  answered  with  a  frightened  look  towards  the 
bed.  There  lay  Ricks,  snoring  in  the  deep  slumbers 
of  drunkenness,  his  clothes  on,  and  the  uncorked  jug 
before  him  upon  the  stand.  At  the  foot  of  the  bed 
was  a  spectacle  to  freeze  the  blood.  Stretched  at  full 
length  was  Mrs.  Ricks,  and  upon  the  floor,  mats  of 
hair,  its  whitish  blue  ends  indicating  its  violent 
wrenching  from  the  living  head.  It  had  been 
wrenched  from  her  head,  and  the  bloody  scalp  lay 
bare  in  hideous  spots.  Above  the  ear  the  blade  of 
the  iron  tire-shovel  had  cleft  the  skull,  driving  the 
Lair  into  the  brain,  and  splitting  the  ear  through  the 
rim.  The  blood  had  oozed  out  and  ran  down  into 
the  eye,  where  it  was  now  frozen,  the  other  glaring 
wildly  in  death  and  covered  with  frost 


A    WINTER   SCENE.  139 

"Who  did  this?"  asked  Howard  of  the  boy,  as  he 
brushed  a  tear  from  his  eye. 

"Father!"  whispered  the  child,  creeping  stealthily 
to  the  Doctor's  side  and  looking  from  behind  him 
towards  the  bed,  and  then,  with  his  gaze  still  on  the 
Bleeping  drunkard,  he  stole  behind  an  old  partition, 
and  with  wild  eyes  and  bloodless  lips  brought  some- 
thing away  in  his  hands,  and  scarce  noticed  by  the 
Doctor,  laid  it  by  the  side  of  the  dead  mother. 
Turning  his  eye  at  the  moment,  Howard  started  as  at 
the  sight  of  a  serpent.  There  was  the  elbow  and 
hand  and  little  foot  of  a  labef 

"  For  God's  sake !  what  —  what  is  this  ? "  he  asked, 
as  he  stooped  to  be  sure  that  his  eyes  did  not  deceive 
him. 

"Father  —  father,"  whispered  the  child,  still  keep- 
ing his  gaze  upon  the  bed  —  "  threw  baby  ont  of  the 
bed  'cause  it  cried,  and  then  into  the  fire,  and  then 
struck  me  'cause  I  screamed." 

The  tale — the  sight,  was  horrible,  and  it  was  no 
dream  ;  and  there  lay  the  imbruted  murderer  in  hia 
slumbers.  Howard  spoke  sharply  In  the  ear  of  the 
drunkard,  but  it  was  difficult  to  awake  him.  Tho 
moment  he  did  awake,  he  called  for  Henry  to  hand 
him  liquor.  Ere  Howard  was  aware,  the  terrified 
boy  had  taken  the  jug,  when  a  fearful  oath  from  his 
father  startled  him  so  suddenly  that  he  dropped  the 
jug  upon  the  floor. 

"  Hell  !  "  now  roared  the  thoroughly  awakened  sot, 
and  caught  the  boy  violently  by  the  arm.  Henry 


140  MINNIE    HERMON. 

screamed  with  agony,  and  Howard  noticed  that  tho 
arm  was  broken  above  the  elbow  and  turned  unre- 
sistingly in  the  cruel  grasp.  It  required  but  a  mo- 
ment to  arrest  the  act,  yet  with  that  strange  tena- 
city which  characterizes  the  drunkard's  grasp,  it  bid 
defiance  to  his  strongest  effort.  But  he  was  not  a 
man  to  stand  upon  trifles,  while  the  tortured  child 
was  shrieking  in  agony.  Fastening  upon  Ricks' 
throat,  he  retained  his  grasp  until  the  bloated  cheek 
became  black,  and  his  hold  on  the  boy's  arm  relaxed. 
Moving  the  boy  to  the  corner,  he  hastily  went  out  to 
his  cutter  for  his  saddle-bags,  thinking,  in  his  excite- 
ment, to  set  the  arm  before  it  should  be  worse  swol- 
len. The  horse  was  restless  from  standing  in  the  cold, 
t.\id  as  he  stepped  into  the  cutter,  the  horse  started 
up"m  a  gallop,  the  reins  about  his  heels,  and  kept  it 
unbroken  until  he  turned  up  under  the  shed  of  the 
"  Home."  In  a  moment  Howard  had  the  reins,  and 
was  urging  his  way  again  up  the  hill  at  full  speed. 
He  hastily  entered  the  house,  when  hell  itself  could 
not  have  presented  a  view  more  devilish.  The  drunk- 
ard was  standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  his  red 
eyes  glaring  with  a  demoniac  expression,  and  his  teeth 
clenched  like  a  madman's. 

"  They'll  never  worry  me  again  about  bread,  G — d 
d — n  'em.  I  '11  learn  the  cussed  brat  to  break  jugs," 
and  more  language  of  the  same  nature  poured  from 
the  maniac. 

"  They  "  would  beg  for  bread  no  more  !  They  were 
beyond  the  "reach  of  worldly  wants  or  worldly  sor- 


A    WLNTKK    SCENE.  141 

rows.  In  the  brief  absence  of  the  Doctor,  the  drunk- 
en man  had  caught  his  boy,  and  as  it  appeared,  had, 
by  repeated  blows,  dashed  his  head  against  the  fire- 
place jams  until  his  skull  was  crushed  into  a  mass  of 
blood  and  brains,  and  flung  him  across  the  corpse  of 
the  mother.  The  frame  of  the  child  was  quivering 
yet,  and  the  one  hand  even  clutched  convulsively  at 
empty  air,  as  he  straightened  out  with  a  tremulous 
movement  and  lay  still  upon  his  mother's  breast. 

The  news  of  the  tragedy  at  Ricks',  was  speedily 
spread  through  the  community,  embellished  with 
many  a  horror,  until  the  public  feeling  ran  high 
against  Ricks.  The  landlord  of  the  "  Home  "  was 
Bure  that  hanging  was  too  good  for  him. 

"While  people  were  talking  about  the  affair,  a  kind 
hand  had  been  at  its  work  of  love  in  the  house  of 
blood.  Mrs.  Ricks  was  found,  on  again  visiting  the 
house,  neatly  arrayed  upon  her  bed,  and  her  child  be- 
side her,  her  wounds  washed  and  dressed,  and  the 
crushed  skull  of  the  child  hidden  in  his  shroud.  It 
needed  iron  nerves  to  look  upon  such  work,  and  yet 
a  gentle  hand  had  removed  the  more  revolting  evi- 
dences of  the  murder,  and  restored  order  to  the  deso- 
late looking  room.  The  hand  and  foot  of  the  babe 
had  been  placed  by  the  mother's  side,  and  the  visitor 
gone.  When  the  citizens  came  through  the  blinding 
storm,  they  looked  with  surprise  upon  the  calm  fea- 
tures of  Mrs.  Ricks,  pale,  but  without  stain  of  blood, 
and  the  floor  and  room  exhibiting  no  signs  of  the 
tragedy  so  recently  enacted. 


142  MINNIE    HERMON. 

—  Sweet  Minnie  Hermon !  In  that  chamber  of 
death  she  kneeled,  and  with  the  cold  browed  and 
bloody  dead  her  company,  prayed  that  the  blood 
of  the  innocent  might  not  rest  too  darkly  on  a 
father's  hand.  The  bitter  storm  was  unheeded  as 
it  swept  against  her  feverish  cheek,  on  her  re- 
turn, for  her  young  heart  was  full  of  sorrow.  As 
vivid  as  the  language  of  fire  it  burned  before  her,  that 
to  the  influence  and  liquor  of  the  "  Home  "  could  be 
traced  the  ruin  and  destruction  of  the  Ricks  family. 

The  funeral  of  the  Ricks  family  was  one  of  more 
than  usual  solemnity.  From  the  grey-haired  grand- 
sire  to  the  innocent  babe,  rum  had  swept  them  away 
at  a  blow.  A  large  crowd  had  gathered,  for  the  triple 
murder  had  thrilled  through  the  community  far  and 
near.  The  dead  were  buried  in  one  grave,  its  wide 
and  frozen  walls  silently  awaiting  to  enclose  this 
fresh  and  fearfully  generous  tribute  to  the  remorseless 
scourge  let  loose  in  the  valley.  The  snow  was  falling 
fast  from  the  thick  gloomy  clouds,  and  the  bottom  of 
the  wide  pit  was  already  shrouded  with  white,  all 
combining  to  render  the  scene  solemn  and  cheerless. 
There  was  but  one  relative  of  the  family  living,  and 
that  was  the  loved  and  broken-hearted  father.  He 
had  been  brought  from  the  jail  in  the  custody  of  offi- 
cers, and  now  stood,  his  head  "bared  to  the  storms, 
and  his  hands  in  irons.  The  scalding  tears  bitterly 
rained  down  his  ghastly  cheeks  and  upon  his  fettered 
ham  Is,  and  his  broad  chest  heaved  with  convulsive 


A  WINTER   SCENK.  143 

efforts,  which  shook  him  as  the  blast  would  shake  the 
reed.  lie  wrung  his  clenched  hands  until  the  blood 
started  from  the  swollen  fingers,  and  moaned  as  he 
stood,  a  blasted  thing  in  his  manhood's  prime,  '!ie 
fetter  links  clanking,  but  in  his  soul  the  iron  had  gone 
the  deepest.  Those  who  had  heari  the  story  of  his 
crime  and  heaped  bitter  denunciations  upon  his  head, 
now  looked  upon  the  wretch  in  his  agony,  and  wept 
for  him.  There  were  mourners  at  the  wintry  grave. 
Minnie  was  there,  crushed  with  grief;  for,  in  a  hun- 
dred  visits  to  the  drunkard's  home  on  the  nill,  on  er- 
rands of  mercy,  she  had  learned  to  love  the  lovely 
woman  who  had  suffered  so  much,  and  a  sister  could 
not  have  wept  more  bitterly  at  a  sister's  grave.  How- 
ard, too,  stood  a  child  by  her  side,  and  with  his  hand- 
kerchief at  his  mouth,  looked  through  swimming 
eyes  upon  the  scene. 

As  the  coffins  were  placed  upon  the  timbers  over 
the  grave,  Ricks  raised  his  arms  high  over  his  head, 
and  dropped  upon  his  knees,  bringing  his  manacled 
hands  heavily  down  upon  the  coffin  of  his  wife,  the 
dead  sound  from  within,  and  the  clash  of  his  irons, 
mingling  dismally  with  a  shriek  which  chilled  with, 
its  fierce  energy  of  woe. 

"  Mary  !  —  O,  Mary  1  My  children  I  How  I  loved 
ye!  Destroyed  by  my  own  hand!  Merciful  God! 
here  let  me  die,  and  be  buried  with  them  ! " 

The  grave  was  filled  by  a  score  of  hard  hands,  and 
many  were  the  warm  tear,  that  wet  them  as  they  toiled. 


144  MINNIE   HERMON. 

Elder  Snyder  stepped  forward  and  returned  thanka 
to  the  people  for  their  kindness,  and  prayed  that  God 
Wv>uld  sanctify  to  the  people  this  most  "  afflicting  dis- 
pensation of  Providence" 

*'  A  providence  O/'KUM,  inflicted  by  human  devils  /'' 

Turning  to  see  from  whence  those  strange  tones, 
the  unknown  in  the  tarpaulin  was  recognized,  lean- 
ing upon  a  head-stone,  his  red  eye  fixed  upon  the 
speaker.  The  latter  turned  quickly  away  and  passed 
out  with  the  crowd. 

Howard  lingered  a  moment,  and  alone  sobbed  as 
he  watched  the  old  sexton  place  the  rough  boards  at 
the  head.  His  thoughts  were  busy.  He  remembered 
the  night  of  his  wedding — the  jeweled  hand  which 
crowded  the  wine  upon  him,  and  the  lovely  features 
which  then  were  the  admiration  of  all.  The  beauti- 
ful and  rarely  accomplished  Miss  Anson  was  under 
the  clods  before  him  ! 

Sick  at  heart,  he,  too,  turned  away,  with  new 
thoughts  busy  in  his  mind. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THREE  MEETINGS,     AND     WHAT     WAS    SAID A    PEAYEH 

ANSWERED. 

THE  events  of  the  last  few  days  famished  fruitful 
themes  fur  conversation  for  many  a  day.  The  public 
mind  was  intensely  aroused  to  the  enormity  of  the 
triple  murder,  and  nearly  all  united  in  unmeasured 
condemnation  of  the  wickedness  of  Ricks.  Custom 
in  the  bar-room  of  the  "  Homo  "  was  better  than  usual, 
for  there  was  a  morbid  desire  to  hear  and  talk  ovei 
the  matter,  and  the  particulars  of  the  affair  were  de- 
tailed for  the  hundredth  time.  Men  stood  with  their 
glasses  in  trembling  hands,  and  argued  wisely  upon 
this  or  that  phase  of  the  transaction. 

The  faults  of  Ricks  were  now  as  plain  as  midday ! 
Men  who  had  feasted  upon  his  too  generous  nature, 
turned  to  give  him  a  stab.  He  was  always  ugly,  es- 
pecially when  in  liqii/yr — was  passionate  and  quarrel- 
some. It  was  a  wonder  that  he  had  not  come  to  some 
bad  end  before. 

Howard  had  been  sitting  along  time  silent  with  his 
face  buried  in  his  hand,  and  his  feet  braced  against 
the  fire-place.  The  remarks  of  the  last  speaker 
aroused  him,  and  turning  quickly  upon  the  latter,  he 
broke  in : 


146  .        MINNIE   HERMON. 

"  When  was  James  Ricks  an  ugly  or  passionate 
man  ?  "When  did  he  ever  wrong  any  man  or  woman 
until  carried  away  by  his  accursed  appetite  for  liquor  3 
When  was  he  otherwise  than  high-minded,  noble  and 
kind  ?  Never,  unless  intoxicated,  1  knew  him  — • 
have  known  him  for  years.  A  truer  or  kinder  friend, 
a  more  affectionate  or  amiable  husband,  or  indulgent 
father  before  he  took  to  drink,  never  lived  in  thia 
community.  You  know  it.  You  know,  too,  -,vbom 
he  married,  and  what  they  both  were  in  this  com- 
munity. You  know,  too,  that  he  had  wealth.  Men 
who  have  fed  upon  his  bounty  should  not  be  eager  to 
add  to  the  weight  which  crushes  the  stricken  crimi- 
nal. He  is  guilty  of  crime,  yet  as  God  is  my  judge, 
James  Ricks,  in  his  right  mind,  would  no  more  have 
done  what  he  has,  than  I  would,  and  but  for  rum, 
would  now  be  as  guiltless.  Young  Brayton  was  right, 
Our  tavern  will  prove  a  curse  instead  of  a,  blessing" 

Hermon  was  stung,  and  retorted  from  his  bar  with 
a  sneer,  with  his  hand  upon  a  customer's  glass  : 

"  You  had  better  start  one  of  these  Temperance 
Societies,  as  they  call  them.  Another  drink  would 
make  you  eloquent !  " 

"Hermon !  "  thundered  the  Doctor  as  he  strode 
towards  the  former  and  struck  his  clenched  fist  upon 
the  bar,  with  an  unusual  light  in  his  inflamed 
eyes,  "  I  shall  never  take  another  drink  frrrn  your 
hand!  I've  seen  enough.  But  for  your  liquor, 
James  Ricks  would  be  now  at  his  old  home,  in  the 
bosom  of  his  family,  an  honored  and  respected  citizen." 


THERE    MEETINGS.  147" 

"  So  you  mean  to  charge  me  with  the  death  of  his 
family?  "  fiercely  demanded  Hermon. 

"  I  charge  it  upon  the  liquor  that  he  obtained  at 
your  bar." 

"  That  was  his  own  business,  and  not  mine." 

"  But,  sir,  you  know  that  he  was  beggaring  hia 
family,  and  abusing  them  shamefully." 

"  Permit  me  to  say  to  you,  Mr.  Howard,  that  that 
was  no  business  of  mine.  It's  my  business  to  sell 
liquor.  No  body  is  obliged  to  buy  or  drink  it  unless 
they  choose." 

"  Very  true.  But  you  know  he  had  no  control 
over  himself  when  in  liquor." 

"  I  tell  you  again",  that  is  no  affair  of  mine.  I  am. 
no  man's  guardian.  Men  have  a  right  to  drink  if  they 
see  fit,  and  I've  a  right  to  sell." 

"And  I've  a  right  to  say  what  I  think  of  the 
matter.  You  took  a  ring  from  little  Henry  Ricks, 
which  you  knew  was  the  wedding  ring  of  his  mother, 
and  let  him  have  whisky  when  you  knew  that  Ricko 
had  driven  his  wife  out  of  doors,  and  to  the  neighbors 
for  protection.  Was  that  as  you  would  wish  other 
men  to  do  by  your  family  ?  " 

"  I  ain't  a  drunkard,  sir,"  retorted  Hermon,  with 
excitement.  "  I'm  not  bound  to  oversee  my  neigh- 
bors' affairs.  People  had  better  mind  their  own  busi 
ness"  he  continued,  with  meaning  emphasis. 

"I  understand  your  threat,  sir  ;  I've  seen  enough 
of  your  tavern  :  it  has  prospered  too  well  for  this  vil- 
lage. I  have  seen  more  suffering  and  wretchedness 


1 .18  MINNIE   HERMON. 

and  sorrow  since  you  opened  this  house,  than  I  ever 
saw  before  in  my  life.  Ricks'  was  not  the  only  fam- 
ily to  whom  I  have  carried  bread  and  given  my 
practice  to  save  from  hunger  and  death.  Light 
breaks  in  upon  me.  I  see  where  it  all  comes  from, 
and  I  shall  attend  sufficiently  to  my  " own  business" 
Mr.  Hermon,  hereafter,  to  let  your  liquor  alone,  or 
else  my  property  will  go  where  Ricks'  has  gone,  and 
my  family  be  left  to  suffer,  as  I  and  yourself \  sir,  know 
that  his  has  suffered.  As  God  is  my  judge,  I'll  drink 
no  more  forever  !  Good  morning,  sir  !  " 

Had  a  thunderbolt  fallen  upon  that  bar-room  floor, 
the  astonishment  could  not  have  been  greater.  The 
befuddled  intellects  were  too  misty  to  see  the  plain 
truths  hinted  at  by  Dr.  Howard,  but  they  could  easily 
see  that  he  was  a  very  hasty -spoken  man,  and  had 
acted  like  a  fool.  Drink  nothing  !  It  was  one  of  the 
wildest  ideas  ever  thought  of,  and  a  temperance  man 
of  this  day  would  wonder  at  the  remarks  made  by 
those  in  the  bar-room,  after  Howard  left.  All  conclu- 
ded that  he  acted  like  a  madman,  and  had  abused 
Mr.  Hermon  most  shamefully.  There  was  not  the 
least  harm  in  the  world  in  drinking  ardent  spirits  — 
it  was  necessary.  Because  a  man  now  and  then  made 
a  fool  of  himself,  so  harmless  a  beverage  should  not 
be  talked  so  about.  The  Doctor  was  generally  a  man 
of  intelligence,  and  it  was  a  wonder  what  had  got 
into  him  to  make  him  act  so ;  —  he  ought  to  know 
better.  Guess  when  he  got  cooled  off  he  would  come 
round  right.  So  Hermon  thought,  although  the 


TliUKi:    MfJi'UNGS.  149 

words  of  the  Doctor  chafed  him  more  t.;an  he  was 
willing  to  acknowledge  even  to  himself.  Yet  he  cer- 
tainly could  not  be  held  responsible  for  what  others 
did ;  —  each  one  must  look  out  for  himself.  If  old 
Ricks  had  not  made  a  fool  of  himself,  he  would  not 
have  been  where  he  was.  He  had  never  taken  any 
thing  from  Ricks  without  he  had  paid  a  full  price 
for  it.  It  wasn't  his  business  to  dictate  how  men 
should  spend  their  property.  Such  men  were  his 
best  customers,  and  if  he  should  refuse  to  sell  them 
liquor,  his  business  would  not  be  worth  anything. 
He  must  get  a  living.  He  did  not  want  people  to 
make  beasts  of  themselves.  If  they  did,  it  was  their 
own  lookout  and  not  his.  He  kept  a  tavern  for  the 
public  accommodation.  To  keep  a  public  house  and 
lot  sell  liquor,  would  be  a  curious  idea  !  He  wan't 
the  fool  that  Howard  took  him  to  be,  and  that  gen- 
tleman would  find  it  out  so. 

With  such  reasoning,  Hermon  stifled  the  little  con 
science  left,  and  after  a  few  days  things  assumed  their 
usual  course,  with  slight  exceptions.  All  had  miscal- 
culated upon  the  Doctor.  He  had  at  once  seen  thb 
danger,  and  in  the  midst  of  the  horrible  effects  of  the 
liquor  from  the  "  Home,"  had  solemnly  sworn  to 
drink  no  more.  His  manhood,  yet  unobliterated  by 
bis  rapidly  increasing  appetite  for  liquor,  rebelled 
against  the  thought  of  dying  a  drunkard.  Ricks,  his 
schoolmate,  and  earliest  and  best  friend,  had  wasted  a 
fortune,  and  was  now  in  irons  as  a  murderer.  How- 
ard shuddered  as  he  looked  over  the  past  few  yeara. 


150  MINNIE    HERMON. 

and  as  he  swore  before  God  in  the  bar-room  of  the 
"  Home,"  so  he  would  do  at  all  hazards.  No  influ- 
ences should  drive  him  from  his  position. 

"With  bitter  words  yet  upon  his  tongue  and  anger 
in  his  heart,  Hermon  passed  from  the  bar-room  into 
the  hall.  He  met  Minnie  in  cloak  and  hood,  with  a 
basket  on  her  arm,  just  starting  to  go  out  among  the 
poor  of  the  neighborhood.  In  his  then  ill  humor,  it 
was  enough  to  call  upon  the  daughter's  head  some 
of  the  harsh  language  that  swelled  in  his  troubled 
heart  against  Howard. 

"What  new  subject  of  your  whimpering  kindness 
now  calls  you  out  in  the  cold  ?  Haven't  I  told  you  be- 
fore to  stop  this  eternal  running  with  provisions  after 
lazy  vagabonds  ?  I  cannot,  will  not  submit  to  it  long- 
er !  "  You  must  stop  it !  " 

"Father!  I  cannot  stop  it.  You  must  not  say  that. 
I  am  not  feeding  lazy  vagabonds,  but  the  poor  and 
needy,  such  as  the  Saviour  enjoins  upon  us  to  aid. 
Do  not  say  I  shall  not,  Father  !  " 

"  Saviour  be  — 

"  O  mercy !  Speak  it  not,"  and  she  sprung  forward 
and  placed  her  hand  quickly  upon  his  burning  lips 
to  shut  back  the  dreadful  blasphemy.  She  instantly 
removed  her  hand,  and  bursting  into  tears  fell  upon 
her  knees  and  craved  his  pardon  with  burning  kisses 
upon  his  reluctant  hand.  The  demon  was  again  en- 
throned in  the  bosom  of  Hermon  as  of  old.  Madden- 
ed with  rum  and  exasperated  by  his  clash  with  How- 
ard, even  the  tears  of  his  meek  and  devoted  daughter 


THREE    MEETINGS.  151 

were  like  oil  upon  the  fires  that  raged  fiercely  within 
him. 

"  Min. !    no  more   of  this  d d  nonsense !     I've 

seen  blubbering  enough.  Your  mother  was  always 
whimpering  around  like  a  simpleton,  and  I  am  tired 
of  it.  Go  into  the  kitchen  and  behave  yourself.  I'll 
see,  Miss,  if  I  can't  rule  my  own  house,"  and  with  a 
cruel  grasp  he  seized  Minnie  by  the  shoulder  and 
hurled  her  towards  the  inner  door. 

Minnie  sprang  from  his  clutch  as  if  stung,  but  it 
was  not  the  cruel  fingers  which  reached  the  quick. 
Rising  erect  in  all  the  queenly  beauty  of  her  injured 
feelings,  her  thin  nostrils  distended,  and  her  eyea 
kindling  with  indignation,  she  stood  before  the  un 
natural  parent. 

"  Father  of  mine !  you  may  heap  reproaches  upon 
me  —  may  even,  as  you  have  now  done  for  the  first 
time  in  your  life,  lay  a  harsh  hand  upon  me,  —  but 
in  the  fear  of  God,  never  dare  again  to  revile  the 
holy  name  of  one  who  loved  so  well  and  suffered  so 
deeply.  Heaven  forgive  you  for  assailing  the  mem 
ory  of  one  whom  you  wronged  so  cruelly  while  living, 
Have  you  forgotten  that  she  died  with  the  mark  of  a 
blow  upon  her  cheek,  and  a  prayer  upon  her  lip  for 
him  who  gave  it  ?  Have  you  forgotten  the  promise 
you  gave  her  then  that  you  would  not  touch  the  cup 
again?  By  all  the  memories  of  the  past,  of  the  pa- 
tient, long-suffering  wife  —  of  your  own  hopes  of 
Heaven,  my  once  noble  father,  away  with  this  dark 
demon,  and  we  will  be  happy  again.  Else  the  judg- 


152  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

ments  of  God  will  as  surely  come  upon  us  as  he  lives 
above." 

Drunk  as  he  was,  Hermon  felt  humbled  some- 
what, and  in  a  milder  tone  muttered  about  giving 
away  so  much  out  of  the  house  ;  it  would  "  beggar 
them." 

•"'  And  would  beggary  be  any  worse  for  us,  Father, 
than  others  ?"  mildly  asked  the  daughter. 

"  Others  is  nothing  to  us.  It's  our  business  to 
take  care  of  ourselves." 

"  But  it's  our  duty  to  help  the  needy." 

"  But  we  can  be  reasonable  about  it ;  'taint  duty  to 
support  all  the  poor  there  is." 

"  Father,  I  must  be  plain.  There  were  few  poor 
and  needy  ten  years  ago.  I  shudder  when  I  think  of 
the  undoubted  cause  of  their  poverty.  Would  to 
God  that  that  cause  had  produced  no  worse  ill  than 
poverty." 

""What  do  you  allude  to,  girl?  —  what  cause?'' 
fiercely  demanded  Hermon. 

"  The  Traveler's  Home !  Its  liquor  has  produced 
Buffering  and  death  in  every  direction." 

"  Who  told  you  this,  you  impudent  hussy  ?  " 

"  Have  I  not  seen  it  in  all  its  forms  from  the  very 
commencement  ? " 

"  And  I  s'pose  you  will  say  next,  as  Howard  did, 
Lat  I  destroyed  the  Kicks  family  ? " 

"  Your  liquor  did,  most  assuredly." 

"  But  how  is  that  any  business  of  mine  ?  I  didn't 
kill  the  wife  and  children." 


THREE   MEETINGS.  153 

c<  But  the  father  did,  while  in  liquor,  and  the  liquor 
c&me  from  your  hand." 

"  My  hand !  "  and  Hermon  involuntarily  looked  at 
his  hand,  as  if  expecting  to  see  blood  there,  and  then 
fiercely  moved  towards  Minnie.  But  she  stirred  not, 
and  the  madman  quailed  before  the  daughter,  foi 
she  had  his  own  spirit,  and  it  was  thoroughly  aroused. 

"  Yes,  father,  it  came  from  your  hand." 

"  But  I  have  a  right  to  sell,  and  no  one  is  obliged 
to  buy  the  liquor." 

"  I  know  that  the  law  gives  you  a  right  to  sell,  but 
God  says,  '  Woe  unto  him  who  putteth  the  bottle  to 
nis  neighbor's  lips,  and  maketh  hini  drunken.' " 

"  You  needn't  preach  to  me  any  more,  Miss,  nor 
carry  any  more  stuff  out  of  the  house,"  snarled  Iler- 
mon,  as  he  turned  to,  go  out.  You  carried  provis- 
ions enough  to  Ricks'  family  to  have  half  support- 
ed 'em." 

"And  were  they  not  entitled  to  even  more  than 
a  half-support  from  us  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean  ?  Am  I  to  support  all  who 
are  fools  enough  to  fool  away  their  property  ?  " 

"  I  mean,  father,  that  the  bread  I  carried  to  that 
family  was  theirs  —  every  morsel,  justly  theirs  —  ta- 
ken piece-meal  from  them  in  their  poverty." 

"  But  they  had  their  pay  for  it  in  liquor,"  thundei 
cd  the  enraged  father. 

'c  ID  liquor  !  and  you  dare  to  call  that  pay  for  all 
that  has  been  taken  from  them.  Did  you  not  know 
that  every  drop  which  went  there  was  a  curse  ?  Could 


154  MINNIE    HERMON. 

Mrs.  Kicks,  or  her  children,  eat  it  when  hungry,  or 
wear  it  in  the  cold  ?  Didn't  it  make  a  fiend  of  Kicks, 
and  cause  him  to  commit  the  crime  for  which  he  is 
now  in  prison?  Don't  you  know  this,  father?  " 

"  Go  to  !     I  don't  know  any  such  thing.     IV 

got  nothirg  but  my  own." 

"  Who  has  the  deed  of  their  farm  f  Dare  you  say 
you  gave  him  an  equivalent?  Is  that  instrument  not 
the  death-warrant  of  the  whole  family?  No,"  con- 
tinued Minnie,  as  the  landlord  of  the  "  Home  "  cow- 
ered from  her,  "  that  bread  was  not  ours,  not  a  mor- 
sel of  it.  It  came  unjustly.  You  may  revile  —  you 
may  turn  me  from  your  door,  father ;  but,  before 
God,  I  will  restore,  as  far  as  in  me  lies,  to  those  who 
have  been  crushed  by  this  house.  You  will  live  to 
bless  me  for  this,  and  to  curse  the  day  you  trans 
formed  our  then  happy  home  into  a  tavern.  I  shall 
now  go  on  my  errand  to  the  Widow  Gilford's.  Ilei 
substance  and  the  life  of  her  only  child  have  been 
destroyed  hy  rum.  She  needs  our  aid.  It  is  her  due, 
and  she  shall  have  it." 

"Hell  and  furies !"  growled  Hermon,  as  he  slam- 
med the  door  behind  him.  "  She,  too,  has  got  How- 
ard's stuff  by  heart,  and  all  the  devils  this  side  the 
pit  can't  stop  her  clack/' 

—  The  landlord  of  the  "  Home  "  felt  himself  a  mai- 
tyr,  and  sought  to  drown  his  troubles  in  a  stiff  horn 
of  fourth-proof,  and  a  vigorous  kicking  of  the  fore- 
stick  in  the  fire-place. 

Dr.  Howard  rode  home,    with   new   and   strange 


THKEE    MEETINGS.  155 

thoughts  crowding  thickly  upon  each  other.  Dimly 
at  first,  but  increasing  as  he  proceeded,  the  light  of 
higher  views  of  his  duties  and  responsibilities  in  the 
matter  of  using  intoxicating  drinks,  broke  in  around 
him.  As  light  came,  so  did  a  knowledge  of  his  own 
danger,  and  the  nearness  of  the  precipice  he  had  es- 
caped. So  intense  became  his  thoughts  as  he  dwelt 
upon  the  subject,  the  abyss  opened  before  him,  and 
he  involuntarily  drew  up  his  rein  so  violently  that 
his  horse  reared,  and  came  near  throwing  him  from 
the  saddle. 

"  I  might  have  fallen  worse  —  far  worse,"  he  mut- 
tered, as  the  fearful  vision  was  dispelled,  and  he  looked 
out  upon  the  eddying  snow  and  up  to  the  gloomy 
clouds  overhead.  It  now  seemed  strange  that  he  had 
so  long  forgotten  his  mother,  and  the  scene  in  the 
city  garret.  A  blush  crept  over  his  cheek  as  he  rec- 
ognized the  cause  of  his  forgetfulness,  and  with  a  ho- 
lier and  more  solemn  meaning,  his  recent  resolution 
entered  down  into  his  better  heart.  That  cold  hand 
and  glaring  eye  were  before  him,  and  the  blast  assumed 
a  milder  wail,  as  upon  that  fatal  night ;  and  he  shut 
his  eyes  and  spurred  on.  The  light,  like  a  cheering 
beacon,  streamed  out  from  his  own  window,  and  he 
dismounted  at  the  cottage,  a  free  and  a  happier  man. 
Fearfully  plain  he  now  saw  the  cause  of  the  wasting 
cheek  of  the  wife,  and  lingered  upon  the  step  to  dash 
a  tear  from  his  eye.  Not  even  an  angry  look  or  a 
smothered  retort  had  ever  answered  his  harsh  words, 
or  greeted  him  as  he  had  returned  from  the  revel 


156  MINNIE   HERMON. 

The  intense  and  holy  love  of  a  bette-i  3ay  kindled  up 
with  more  than  its  early  heat,  and  he  hurried  to  his 
wife's  chamber. 

Howard  entered  softly,  but  the  chamber  was  do- 
Borted.  The  fire  glowed  in  the  chimney,  and  the  ta- 
ble awaited  his  coming.  As  he  turned  to  look,  a  low 
murmur  came  from  the  half-opened  bedroom  door, 
and  he  recognized  the  voice  of  his  wife.  The  current 
of  air  from  the  hall  door,  which  he  had  opened, 
swung  the  other  noiselessly  upon  its  hinges,  and  the 
whole  was  revealed.  The  child  had  been  placed  in 
the  bed,  and  was  slumbering  sweetly.  The  mother 
was  kneeling  before  the  bed,  the  hand  of  the  little 
sleeper  clasped  in  hers,  and  her  head  bowed  upon  the 
pillow-  Her  hair  had  fallen  from  its  fastenings,  and 
hung  in  dark  masses  over  the  shoulder.  Howard  had 
never  before  found  his  wife  at  prayer,  and  he  stood 
spell-bound,  not  knowing  whether  to  advance  or  re- 
treat. Clear  and  distinct  her  words  came,  and  like 
hot  brands  burned  upon  his  cheek  and  into  his  proud 
soul.  And  she,  too,  had  seen  his  danger  ;  and  now, 
with  the  holy  earnestness  of  a  faith  which  leaned 
firmly  upon  God,  and  a  heart  swelling  with  the  sor- 
row which  the  public  eye  never  beholds,  she  was 
praying  for  her  husbacd,  and  wrestling  with  Him 
who  influences  the  hearts  of  men,  to  save  the  father 
of  her  child  from  a  drunkard's  grave.  Howard 
started  as  though  an  adder  had  hissed  at  his  feet. 
And  still  the  long-suffering,  never-complaining  and 
devoted  wife  plead  that  their  home  might  be  spared 


THREE    MEETINGS.  157" 

from  the  destroyer  of  those  around  it.  She  raised  her 
head  again,  and  prayed  more  earnestly  that  HE  who 
loved  children  would  guard  her  own  from  harm. 
Tears  flooded  the  channel  of  words,  and  she  ceased 
to  speak,  but  —  a  more  touching  eloquence  —  wep 
her  prayers  in  silence. 

"Ellen?" 

Ere  the  startled  wife  could  turn,  a  trembling  arm 
was  wound  about  her,  and  her  hand  clasped  convul- 
sively in  that  of  her  husband,  his  strong  frame  heaving 
with  emotion,  and  the  warm  tears  of  stouter  man- 
hood's giving  away,  raining  upon  the  locked  hands. 
The  silence  was  broken  only  by  the  sobbing  of  a  man 
who  seldom  wept  — 

"  Ellen,  how  long  have  you  prayed  thus  ?  " 

"  Oh,  many,  many  times,  Henry.  I  hope  you  are 
not  offended,"  and  she  turned  to  look  in  his  face. 

"  My  deeply  injured  wife,  no !  ten  thousand  times, 
no !  But  you  will  weep  no  more  ;  your  prayers  havo 
been  answered.  I  have  this  night  sworn  to  drink  no 
more  forever  that  which  will  intoxicate." 

Men  who  know  not  how  much  a  woman  can  suffer 
in  the  daily  crumbling  away  of  her  heart's  dearest 
hopes,  can  dream  how  unutterable  happiness  like  the 
sunshine  of  perfect  bliss  came  back  from  Heaven  on 
the  pathway  of  her  prayers,  as  she  wound  her  arms 
around  the  neck  of  her  husband,  and  with  her  head 
bowed  upon  his  bosom,  wept  again.  Her  tears  were 
now  for  joy.  Each  one  gave  back  the  light  of  hope 
and  promise,  and  a  sweet  and  holy  oalm  pervaded  her 


J5S  MINNIE   HERMON. 

soul  in  that  night  of  storm.  In  that  hour,  too,  How 
ard  had  determined  to  lean  upon  her  God,  and  the 
tempter  was  forever  driven  from  their  earthly  Eden. 
As  he  stooped  down  over  his  child,  it  awoke,  and  a 
smile  answered  the  kiss.  It  was  like  an  angel- wel- 
come—  welcome  back  to  a  better  and  holier  life. 
The  evening  meal  was  never  sc  enjoyed.  The  fire 
looked  brighter,  and  the  tea-kettle  sung  a  livelier  air, 
and  its  steam  curled  up  from  the  spout  like  an  in- 
cense. The  storm  was  unheeded;  and  even  aftei 
the  family  had  retired,  the  coals  glowed  and  flashed, 
and  the  cricket  chirruped  his  happy  song  under  the 
hearth. 

Dreams  visited  the  Sleeping  husband  and  wife. 
The  fearful  specter  which  had  seated  itself  at  their 
hearth  was  driven  away,  and  the  Angel  of  Hope  came 
?uid  smiled  where  it  had  been. 


CHAPTEE    XIII. 

MABEL   DUNHAM. 

AMONG  the  earliest  victims  of  the  rum  traffic  in 
Oakvale,  was  Harry  Dunham,  an  impetuous,  gener- 
ous-hearted and  high-souled  young  man  of  thirty 
years  of  age.  In  the  pleasures  of  the  cup,  the  bond- 
age of  the  tempter  was  woven  so  speedily  and  strong 
ly  around  him,  that  his  prospects  darkened  at  midday, 
and  the  sun  of  his  promise  went  down  like  a  meteor. 
His  was  a  nature  to  yield  at  once  and  madly  to  the 
fatal  embrace  of  his  enemy,  and  in  a  few  years  the 
gifted  young  man  had  fallen  to  the  lowest  degrada- 
tion, and  in  soiled  and  tattered  garments  spent  the 
most  of  his  time  in  the  bar-room  of  the  tavern.  The 
manly  form  \vas  bloated,  the  hair  bushy  and  un- 
combed, and  the  full,  dark  eye  of  a  fiery  red.  It  was 
pitiable  to  see  the  once  proud  young  man,  holding 
horses,  cleaning  stables,  sweeping  the  bar-rooms  — 
performing  the  most  menial  service  for  the  pittance 
of  a  glass.  As  a  sixper/ce  dropped  into  his  hand,  he 
would  turn  eagerly  away  to  the  bar  and  spend  it  for 
rnm. 

The  course  of  Dunham  had  desolated  as  happy  a 
home  as  a  young  man  ever  had.  But  the  young  wife, 
who  had  given  him  the  priceless  wealth  of  her  young 
7 


MINNIE    HEKMON. 


heart,  was  stricken  down  like  a  tender  flower,  and, 
without  a  word  of  complaining,  died. 

Mabel,  the  fair  child  of  the  brief  union,  inherited 
all  her  mother's  loveliness,  and  every  home  in  Oak- 
vale  was  gladly  tendered  the  worse  than  orphan. 
She  had  no  more  a  homo,  for  her  father  deserted  her 
entirely,  and  plunged  more  deeply  into  dissipation. 
She  no  more,  however,  was  compelled  to  visit  the 
"  Home,"  with  the  tin  pail,  and  in  tremulous  tones 
ask  liquor  for  a  drunken  father  at  home. 

John  Gault,  a  bold,  impulsive  boy,  a  few  years 
older  than  Mabel,  was  often  seen  in  her  company, 
and  at  such  times  himself  went  into  the  bar-room  and 
got  the  liquor  for  her.  John's  father,  though  a  cler- 
gyman, was  a  cold,  stone-hearted  man,  and  was  angry 
at  the  intimacy  between  his  son  and  "  drunken  Dun- 
ham's "  Mabel ;  but  the  wilful  boy  would  go  to  school) 
and  over  the  fields,  and  by  the  river,  with  the  sad- 
hearted  child. 

The  old  school-house  stood  over  the  river,  perched 
picturesquely  at  the  "  four  corners  "  among  the  rocks 
and  scraggy  pines.  The  walls  upon  the  lower  side 
were  covered  with  moss,  tufts  of  grass  growing  in  the 
crevices,  and  a  thistle,  with  a  pale  red  blossom,  reach- 
ing out  its  prickly  stem.  The  house  is  old  and 
woather-beaten,  and  the  chimney  crumbling  away  ; 
but  clustering  with  a  thousand  hallowed  associations. 
The  jack-knife  had  been  busy  upon  the  clapboards 
and  berches,  where  rude  skill  had  carved  ruder  ima- 
ges an }  names,  many  of  the  letters  turned  the  wrong 


MABEL    DUNHAM.  161 

way,  and  fantastically  uncouth.  The  old  door-sill 
•was  broken  and  deeply  worn,  and  the  rank  grass  was 
growing  greenly  upon  either  side  of  the  hard  path. 
There  was  an  old  rock  by  the  tuft  of  elders,  sloping 
back  to  the  hill  from  its  perpendicular  front,  and 
smoothly  worn  by  many  a  summer's  treading  of  bare-" 
footed  groups.  It  was  warm  —  the  rock  —  in  the 
summer's  sun.  and  there  were  glorious  tumbles  from 
the  overhanging  top. 

The  rock  is  there  yet,  but  many  of  the  bare  feet, 
have  long  since  trodden  the  journey  of  life. 

Across  the  road  was  a  wide-spreading  old  thorn, 
with  scraggy  trunk  and  lance-like  weapons  hidden  in 
its  leaves ;  but  it  bore  a  gorgeous  wealth  of  white 
blossoms,  and  the  bees  mingled  melody  with  the  wel- 
come fragrance.  On  the  knoll  beneath,  was  'the 
mimic  carriage-way,  with  its  bridge  of  bark  and  em- 
bankments of  fresh  earth.  No  architects  of  ancient 
grandeur  were  prouder  of  their  achievements  than  the 
boy  builders  Below  the  hill  was  the  old  mill,  witb 
its  deep,  dark  flume,  and  the  pond  covered  with  float- 
ing timbers.  The  mysterious  old  wheel  was  covered 
with  moss,  and  as  its  dripping  arms  swung  round,  a 
M'ealth  of  gems  fell  glittering  in  the  sunbeams.  There 
was  the  still  water  wlion  the  old  wheel  ceased  to  go 
round,  and  the  green-lookiijg  stones  upon  the  bottom, 
where  the  "  dace  "  lay  so  lazily  in  the  sun,  and  seem- 
ed so  wondrous  large.  It  were  worth  a  world  to  sport 
again  in  that  cool  stream,  with  the  light  of  childhood 
in  the  heart,  and  its  vigor  in  the  limb. 


162  MINNIE  HERMON. 

The  sun  crept  stilly  into  the  open  door  of  the  school- 
house,  and  away  across  the  warped  boards,  nicely 
swept,  and  worn  smooth  by  childish  feet.  Warm  and 
rich  was  that  sunlight  as  it  came  in  at  the  window 
upon  the  well-worn  seat,  and  leaped  off  upon  the  floor 
across  the  room.  Sweetly  it  laughed  upon  the  sleep- 
ing boy's  face  and  upon  his  golden  hair.  The  little 
sleeper  was  just  at  school,  and  the  mistress  had  kindly 
laid  him  down,  his  feet  hanging  over  the  end  of  the 
bench,  and  his  arm  hanging  down  to  the  floor. 

—  The  sun  moved  away  —  and  so  will  move  away 
the  child-dreams  of  his  school  days. 

There  is  a  low  murmur  of  voices  in  the  room,  and 
the  hum  of  the  fly,  as  he  wings  about  in  the  stillness, 
or  crawls  on  the  warm  window-pane,  or  trims  his  shi- 
ning wings  in  the  sunshine- — save  this,  all  is  hushed 
and  dreamy.  The  sun  beats  hotly  without,  where 
the  mowers  are  busy,  the  scraping  of  their  rifles,  as 
they  sharpen  their  scythes,  ringing  clearly  across  the 
field.  With  the  shadow  of  the  drifting  cloud  goes 
by  the  breeze,  after  entering  the  windows  like  a  spirit 
of  health,  with  its  fragrance  of  new-mown  hay. 

The  wide  old  hearth  is  neatly  swept,  and  the  fire- 
place looks  cool  with  its  profusion  of  boughs.  The 
school  mistress  moves  quietly  about  the  room  with 
ferule  in  hand,  and  prompting  with  a  musical  voice 
as  the  children  recite. 

There  is  the  beautiful  and  sad  face  of  the  lone  boy, 
as,  with  his  crutch  beside  him,  he  sits  in  the  door  and 
watches  sports  he  cannot  enjoy.  His  cheeks  are 


MABEL    DUNHAM.  163 

pale,  but  his  eye  of  deepest  blue  has  that  resigned 
and  patient  look  which  wins  the  heart,  and  his  sweet 
and»gentle  manner  endeared  him  to  all.  The  best 
apple  is  his,  and  he  has  a  favored  seat  at  all  cui 
plays ;  and  when  we  lift  him  over  the  fence,  where 
he  can  mingle  with  us  under  the  wide-crowned  thorn, 
his  look  is  grateful,  and  lingers  like  a  sacred  thought 
in  the  memory.  The  pilgrimage  of  the  lame  boy  is 
ended.  He  left  his  crutch  at  the  grave,  and  in  it  that 
shattered,  form. 

In  the  corner  of  the  crooked  fence,  and  under  the 
thorn,  was  the  play-house,  built  of  fragments  of 
boards,  and  walled  in  with  cobble-stones.  The  bro- 
ken china  was  nicely  arranged,  and  the  turf  floor 
cleanly  swept.  But  lessons  were  not  always  well 
learned  within  that  little  retreat.  The  plump  arm 
was  punished  with  a  pin,  when  the  mischievous  owner 
put  dock-burs  in  her  brother's  hair. 

Mabel  Dunham  was  a  favorite,  for  the  children  had 
not  yet  learned  to  shun  the  drunkard's  child.  Her 
eyes  were  sweetly  calm  and  blue,  her  hair  long  and 
lying  like  waves  of  gold  upon  her  white  neck,  or  glan- 
cing in  the  sun  as  her  hand  tossed  the  heavy  braids 
from  her  cheek.  A  gentle  and  touching  sadness  had 
settled  upon  her  features  since  her  mother's  death, 
and  sorrow  more  than  years  had  written  its  language 
upon  her  thoughtful  brow. 

John  G-ault,  was  the  boy-lover  of  Mabel.  He 
carefully  lifted  her  over  the  mossy  stones  in  the 
streams,  over  the  fence,  or  down  from  the  wide  rock 


164  MINNIE    HERMON. 

by  the  spring.  The  yellowest  daisy  and  iho  freshest 
wild-rose  were  hunted  out  from  the  meadow  and  the 
hedge,  and  the  largest  pond-lily  was  wrenched  from 
its  moorings  far  out  in  the  water.  The  smoothest  and 
prettiest  pebbles  were  selected  from  the  brooklet's  bed 
for  the  little  house  he  had  built  for  Mabel,  and  the 
greenest  moss  pulled  to  carpet  the  floor.  The  red 
maple  was  climbed  for  boughs  to  shut  out  the  sun  — 
those  blue  eyes  ever  turned  anxiously  up  that  he 
should  not  fall.  Mornings,  John  would  steal  away 
and  watch  her  coming  down  the  winding  path  around 
the  hill,  and  carry  her  basket  to  the  school.  The  im- 
petuous boy  loved  more  than  boys  usually  love.  He 
saw  her  everywhere  in  night  and  day  dreams.  The 
flame-like  foliage  of  the  maple  was  like  the  dress  she 
wore.  The  robin  in  the  beech  overhead  sang  of  Ma- 
bel. The  golden  dandelion  and  the  daisy  smiled  as 
she  smiled  ;  and  the  blue  sky  down  in  the  still  water, 
was  as  dreamy  and  still  as  her  eyes  were  calm.  He 
heard  her  footfall  behind  him  as  he  hurried  through 
the  dusky  wood-path.  The  stars  had  eyes  like  hers  ; 
and  in  the  moonlight,  the  dew-drop  glittered  as  he 
had  seen  .the  tear  glitter  upon  her  cheek.  In  the 
strength  and  purity  of  his  child-love,  John  had 
promised,  that,  when  a  man,  in  spite  of  his  father  and 
everybody  else,  he  would  make  Mabel  his  wife,  and 
they  would  have  a  home  of  their  own,  and  be 
happy. 

—  Boy  dreams ! 

Mabel  Dunham  lost ! 


M.VBEL    DUNHAM.  165 

The  news  spread  quickly  through  the  village  —  for 
all  loved  the  unfortunate  child.  The  father,  deeply 
intoxicated,  had  been  seen  the  evening  before  iii  her 
company  across  the  river. 

Below  the  dam  was  a  foot  walk,  high  above  the 
watev,  for  the  accommodation  of  the  villagers.  Across 
this  wab  the  most  direct  way  to  the  falls  —  a  place 
where  John  and  Mabel  had  spent  many  hours  in 
childish  communion.  John  was  the  first  to  reach 
the  walk,  just  as  the  sunshine  fell  in  a  broad  beam 
across  the  pool.  There  upon  the  bottom  was  Dunham 
and  Mabel,  one  hand  clenched  upon  her  arm,  and  the 
other  upon  the  handle  of  his  broken  jug  !  The  sands 
glittered  in  the  golden  braids  of  her  hair  as  they  lay 
out  upon  the  clear  current ;  and,  as  if  smiling  to  the 
sky,  h<;r  eye  was  turned  upward.  A  wild  rose  was 
crushed  in  her  stiffened  fingers.  The  father  with  hk 
jug,  and  the  child  with  the  flower! — both  at  rest. 

There  was  no  little  astonishment  when  it  was  known 
that  Elder  Snyder  would  not  preach  at  the  funeral 
of  Dunham  and  his  child.  Few  dared,  however,  to 
reason  the  matter  with  him.  His  creed  was  cast-iron 
in  its  mould  —  dark,  puritanic  and  forbidding.  He 
felt  that  no  drunkard  could  enter  Heaven,  and  be- 
lieved that  the  sins  of  the  father  were  visited  upon 
the  children.  Dunham  was  an  ungodly  man,  and 
Mabel  had  never  been  baptized,  and  it  would  be 
blasphemy  to  pray  for  those  who  were  already 
doomed  to  perdition.  Gault  indignantly  rebuked 
the  bigot  because  he  would  not  preach  for  Mabel ; 


166  MINNIE    HKRMON. 

but  he  was  severely  chastised  for  his  wickedness  and 
impertinence. 

On  a  bright  Sunday  afternoon  they  carried  Mabel 
across  the  stream,  and  lowered  her  gently  to  her  rest. 
John  Gault  dare  not  speak,  but  his  heart  went 
down  with  the  coiSn,  and  he  loved  the  old  sexton  be- 
cause he  dropped  the  dirt  so  softly  down,  and  placed 
the  sods  so  carefully  with  his  hands,  with  a  tear  in 
his  own  eye.  The  old  man  loved  Mabel,  too. 

—  Thus  early  in  life  ended  the  love-dream  of  John 
Gault 


CHAPTER    XIT. 

GOING   FKOM  HOME. 

"  No,  I  '11  not  forgive  him.  He 's  a  wilful  boy,  and 
has  disobeyed  me  thrice  in  this  matter.  He  has 
shown  himself  a  child  of  the  devil,  and  he  must  go 
out.  He  is  no  son  of  mine,  and  this  is  his  home  no 
longer ! " 

"  Nay,  William,"  pleaded  the  tearful  wife,  "he  is  oui 
only  child.  Do  not  turn  him  away,  but  forgive  him. 
He  is  wayward,  but  not  vicious.  Years  and  kindness 
will  cool  his  fiery  nature,  and  he  will  be  a  blessing 
in  our  old  age.  God  will  not  leave  him  —  we  must 
not.  The  act  may  be  his  ruin,  and  plant  sorrow  in 
our  old  hearts  for  life. '  Our  Saviour  was  forgiving, 
William,"  and  the  earnest  woman  laid  her  hand  gen- 
tly on  the  arm  of  the  stern  man  before  her,  "  and 
should  we  not  bear  longer  with  the  only  one  now 
left  us?" 

"Tempt  me  not,  woman!  Your  mother's  heart 
clings  wickedly  to  an  unworthy  idol.  The  boy  has 
wandered  from  the  fold  and  our  heartheide  and  sought 
intercourse  with  the  ungodly.  He  is  lost,  but  God's 
will  be  done.  I  must  not  shrink,  for  we  read  that  if 
the  eye  offend,  we  must  pluck  it  out.  Alfred  is  de- 
termined to  inflict  disgrace  upon  us  and  the  church. 


168  MINNIE 

His  mouth  is  filled  with  cursings,  and  his  heart  with 
disobedience,  and  I  can  harbor  him  no  more." 

"  But  if  the  prodigal  should  return,"  continued  the 
now  weeping  mother,  "you  surely  would  welcome 
him  to  our  home?" 

"  Enough  of  this,  Mary ;  it  is  wrong  to  repine.  It 
is  ordered  that  our  child  should  be  cast  out  from 
among  the  righteous,  and  it  is  ours  to  submit." 

The  angel-hearted  mother  would  have  still  plead 
for  her  wayward  boy,  but  she  looked  in  the  face  of 
the  stern,  tearless  father,  and  with  a  quivering  lip 
turned  away  to  weep  as  only  a  mother  weeps,  and 
left  that  frowning  man  to  walk  his  study  with  a  firm 
tread  and  a  compressed  lip. 

Elder  Snyder  was  a  Christian  of  iron  mould.  No 
penance-doing  monk  was  ever  more  exact  and  rigid 
in  the  performance  of  his  religious  duties,  and  more 
unforgiving  towards  the  wayward  and  ungodly.  He 
looked  upon  the  least  sin  with'  no  degree  of  allowance, 
and  felt  it  a  solemn  duty  to  heap  the  fiercest  condem- 
nation upon  all  who  did  not  square  by  his  standard 
of  faith.  His  was  a  cast-iron  creed,  unyielding  and 
unforgiving.  He  was  once  a  persecutor  of  the  saints, 
but  now  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  who  dealt  only  in 
the  fierce  red  imagery  of  hell  and  its  torments,  in  his 
Sabbath  ministrations.  He  never  spoke  of  the  love 
of  the  child-like  Saviour  —  nor  wept  as  that  Saviour 
wept  —  never  forgave  as  that  Saviour  forgave.  He 
never  smiled ;  but  cold,  passionless  and  stern,  stood 
like  an  angel  with  a  flaming  sword  to  drive  out  the 


GOING    FROM    HOME.  169 

erring  forever ;  never,  like  the  meek  Redeemer,  to 
forgive  and  pardon  on  the  cross,  and  welcome  to 
Heaven  the  praying  and  penitent  thief.  He  was  evei 
dark  and  forbidding,  and  his  sermons  were  ever  woven 
with  the  sombre  texture  of  eternal  wrath.  The  mild, 
winning  light  of  our  blessed  religion  never  warmed 
or  irradiated  his  dark  nature.  He  esteemed  joy  and 
laughter  a  sin,  and  passed  among  his  people  with  a 
countenance  as  rigid  and  unbending  as  though  no 
heart  throbbed  beneath  that  stolid  surface. 

Such  was  the  father  of  Alfred  Snyder,  for  whom 
the  mother  plead  in  the  beginning  of  this  chapter. 
The  young  looked  upon  him  with  awe,  but  not  with 
love  and  veneration.  There  was  nothing  in  his  man- 
ner or  conversation  to  win  the  affection  of  the  youth, 
or  to  attract  them  toward  him.  From  the  ball-play 
or  the  ring  he  turned  away  with  a  frown  and  a  sigh. 
His  prayers  were  ever  of  a  chilling  solemnity,  and 
breathed  only  denunciations  against  the  impenitent. 
And  in  the  chamber  of  the  dying,  he  never  wore  that 
smile  of  hope  and  faith,  which  burns  like  a  beacon 
above  the  silent  wastes  of  a  shoreless  ocean.  Child- 
hood shrunk  away  in  whispers  from  that  cloudy  brow, 
and  hushed  the  laughter  of  its  joys. 

We  need  not  detail  the  history  of  an  education  at 
such  a  hearth  and  by  such  a  teacher.  His  treatment 
of  his  familv  chilled  every  warm  impulse  of  his  chil- 
dren, and  taught  them  that  all  earthly  joy  was  a  sin. 
All  but  one  of  his  children  had  passed  away,  but  the 


170  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

iron  man  never  wept  —  it  would  have  been  sinful  to 
have  wept  over  the  providence  of  God  ! 

—  And  so  the  mother  wept  alone  in  her  heart  and 
chamber  over  the  wasting  of  her  idols. 

Thus  Alfred  Snyder  grew  up  to  early  manhood, 
looking  upon  his  home  as  a  prison-house,  and  his 
father  as  a  stern,  hard  keeper,  and  upon  the  world  as 
a  bright  realm  which  lured  him  to  pleasures  he  could 
not  enjoy.  Even  the  most  innocent  amusements  of 
childhood  were  denied  him.  The  tide  of  young  life's 
buoyancy  was  frowned  back  to  its  fountain,  where  its 
pent-up  strength  struggled  against  the  unnatural  and 
unreasonable  restraint.  The  Bible  and  the  catechism 
were  the  only  books ;  the  rod,  the  devil,  and  perdi- 
tion, the  only  motives  in  life.  The  result  of  such  a 
system  of  training  upon  a  fiery  nature,  need  not  be 
told.  Alfred  inherited  all  his  father's  firmness,  with 
the  buoyant,  sunny  nature  of  the  mother.  His  heart 
was  full  of  the  sunshine  of  life,  and  of  the  nobility  of 
manhood.  He  turned  kindly  to  every  one,  and 
eagerly  sought  the  pleasant  associations  of  youth. 
He  was  frank,  impulsive,  and  generous,  and  from  a 
cold  and  uncongenial  home,  turned  involuntarily  to 
catch  the  sunshine  he  found  not  at  his  own  hearth- 
side.  Thus,  step  by  step,  without  dreaming  of  wrong, 
he  crossed  the  first  circles  of  youthful  pleasure.  In- 
stead of  striving  to  make  home  pleasant,  and  to  blend 
instruction  with  amusement,  the  father  was  harshly 
Btern  and  unforgiving.  Alfred,  now  twenty  yeara 


GOING    FKOM   HOME.  171 

old,  came  home  from  a  dance  ;  the  father  did  not  ex- 
postulate or  entreat,  but,  with  a  lowering  brow,  took 
the  rod  and  chastised  his  boy.  Alfred's  cheek  flushed 
a  deep  crimson,  and  his  eye  flashed,  but  he  stood 
erect  and  looked  his  parent  in  the  face.  But  the 
strokes  burned,  and  his  proud  nature  writhed  under 
the  disgraceful  infliction.  The  punishment  came  to 
the  ears  of  his  comrades,  and,  maddened  by  the  fact, 
Alfred  attended  another  dance,  and  was  again  flog- 
ged. And  still  a  third  time.  The  gulf  had  now 
widely  yawned  between  the  parent  and  child,  and  the 
latter  sought  his  chamber  with  a  pale,  compressed 
lip.  A  new  purpose  was  formed. 

The  father  knelt  and  put  up  his  evening  prayer,  his 
voice  as  coldly  calm  and  unshaken  as  though  no 
shadow  had  ever  fallen  between  him  and  his  first- 
born. 

The  mother  stole  away  to  the  chamber  of  her  boy, 
to  drop  the  balm  of  kindly  words  and  tears  upon  hia 
smarting  wounds  and  into  the  lacerated  heart.  Al- 
fred had  thrown  himself  upon  his  bed  without  un- 
dressing, and  had  already  fallen  asleep.  There  were 
tears  lingering  upon  the  lids  and  cheek,  and  the  holy 
ones  of  the  mother  mingled  with  them,  as  she  kneeled 
and  wTept  over  the  wayward,  but  brave  and  noble- 
hearted  boy.  His  cheeks  were  flushed,  and,  upon 
one  of  them,  was  a  long  line  of  fiery  red,  where  the 
lash  had  reached  from  the  shoulder. 

The  father  prayed  not  for  his  child,  but  the  mother 
did.  Alfred  awoke  to  hear  her  asking  the  blessing 


172  MINNIE    HEEMON. 

of  God  upon  liis  head,  and  he  wove  his  arm  around 
her  tv^ck,  and  wept  as  a  grieved  child  would  weep, 

"Mother,  I  must  leave  home —  it  is  no  place  for 
me.  Harsh  words  I  can  bear,  but  not  blows. 
I  arn  disgraced,  for  the  boys  all  understand  the 
matter." 

"  No,  no,  Alfred,"  answered  the  mother  sadly ; 
"you  must  not  leave.  Your  father  is  severe,  but  he 
feels  that  you  have  disobeyed  him.  Your  mother 
will  plead  with  him  —  you  are  our  only  child,  and 
you  must  not  go  away  from  us." 

"Mother,  I  must.  It's  of  no  use — father  never 
smiles  or  speaks  a  kind  word  to  me.  Had  he  done 
so,  I  am  sure  I  should  not  have  disobeyed  him.  I 
love  you,  mother,  but  I  cannot  love  him.  Every 
blow  he  strikes  me  smarts  to  the  soul,  and,  with  bit- 
ter words,  he  told  me  to  leave  the  home  I  had  dis 
graced.  Did  he  speak  to  me  as  you  speak,  I  could 
get  down  on  my  knees  to  him  and  beg  his  forgiveness, 
but  never,  with  the  lash  burning  on  my  back.  I 
will  go." 

Alfred  had  arisen  and  stood  with  erect  frame  ana 
dilated  nostrils,  his  eye  flashing  and  the  whip  mark 
reddening  on  his  cheek.  The  mother  watched  him 
with  feelings  of  pride  as  he  stood,  and  yet  wept  at  his 
determination.  The  mother's  tears  were  yet  warm 
upon  the  cheek  of  her  boy,  to  be  borne  out  into  the 
world,  and  remembered  when  all  else  virtuous  and 
holy  died  out. 

"  It  is  of  no  use,"  he  firmly  answered  to  her  earn 


GOING    FROM   HOME.  173 

esl  appeals,  "  I  must  go.  I  never  shall  return  until 
he  ashs  me  to,  though  I  will  write  to  you  often.  And 
now,  mother,  I  am  wild  and  thoughtless,  but  you  will 
pray  for  me  when  away.  I  shall  be  a  better  man. 
It  is  hard  to  leave  —  to  be  turned  out,  but,"  and  he 
stood  proudly  up,  "  I  can  wrestle  alone  in  the  world, 
and  find  none  more  unkind  than  him  you  have  told 
me  to  love.  Don't  weep  —  you  unman  me.  In  an 
hour  I  shall  be  on  my  way." 

—  Alas  !  how  many  stronger  wrestlers  have  been 
thrown  in  life's  encounters. 

The  mother  spent  that  swift  hour  on  her  knees, 
and,  as  the  clock  struck  ten,  she  hearkened,  even  then 
hoping  that  Alfred  would  not  go.  She  opened  the 
hall  door,  passed  softly  to  his  chamber,  and  found  the 
door  ajar.  She  feared  he  had  gone,  but  she  found 
him  bowed  and  his  face  wet  with  tears,  and  her  min- 
iature in  his  hands.  Like  the  low  rustling  of  an  an- 
gel's wing,  the  mother  kneeled  down,  and  locked  arm 
in  arm  in  silence,  they  wept  again  together,  for  the 
mother  loved  her  child. 

Alfred  stood  on  the  threshold,  his  heart  swelling  in 
his  throat,  and  locked  to  the  heaving  bosom  of  the 
sorrowing  mother.  Even  then,  had  that  stern  father 
spoken  one  kind  word  to  the  proud  boy,  the  cloud 
would  have  passed  away  from  the  hearth. 

'T  was  like  wrenching  hearts  asunder  —  the  agony 

•  of  that  parting.     She  clung  to  him  with  hooks  of  steel. 

He  had  been  her  idol,  and  she  yielded  him  as  one  of 

the  brightest  hopes  of  earth:     Clouds  had  darkened 


174  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

the  sky  over  their  heads,  but  darker  ones  were  it 
their  hearts. 

"I  must  go,  mother  —  may  God  be  with  you,  for 
there  are  none  to  love  you  as  I  love  you.  Tell  fa- 
ther to  be  more  kind  to  others  than  he  has  been  to 
me,  and  that  when  old  age  creeps  upon  him,  one 
kindly  word  will  bring  me  back  to  our  home  from  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  Don't  weep,  mother,  but  pray  for 
your  wayward  boy.  Goodrbye  !  " 

Like  a  part  of  her  own  life,  Alfred  withdrew  from 
her  trembling  arms,  and  turned  down  the  road.  She 
listened  to  every  footstep,  the  sounds  falling  like  barbs 
into  her  desolate  heart,  and,  faint  and  dizzy,  she  pas- 
Bed  into  the  dark  and  lonely  chamber,  where  every- 
thing reminded  her  sadly  of  him  who  had  gone  from 
her  sight  forever.  It  stormed  during  the  night,  and 
she  saw  in  each  flash  the  form  of  her  boy,  heavy- 
hearted  and  weary,  toiling  alone  through  life,  without 
mother  or  home. 

The  morning  was  cloudless,  and  the  sun  smiled  upon 
the  dripping  landscape.  The  father  put  up  his  morn- 
ing prayer  with  a  steady  voice,  never  once  alluding 
to  him  who  was  launched  out  upon  a  world-wide  and 
treacherous  ocean. 

—  The  mould  will  long  gather  upon  the  gra  ?e  of 
that  mother,  ere  the  wanderer  returns. 


CHAPTEK    XT, 

UNMOORED   FROM   THE   HEARTH. 

ON  the  fourth  day  from  home,  Alfred  Snj'd^r  found 
himself  in  the  streets  of  the  Empire  City,  alone  and 
friendless.  The  thronging  thousands,  the  rumbling 
of  wheels,  and  the  confusion  of  tongues,  wore  the  air 
of  novelty  for  a  time.  But  he  soon  wearied  of  all 
this,  and  felt  himself  in  a  vast  solitude,  even  in  the 
midst  of  the  great  Babel.  So  true  it  is,  that  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  tramping  thousands,  the  strangei 
feels  like  one  in  a  vast  solitude,  and  turns  within 
his  own  bosom,  where  there  are  thoughts  of  home 
and  friends  wrho  are  ever  joined  in  one  common 
circle. 

It  is  not  our  purpose,  at  this  time,  to  trace  the  ca- 
reer of  Alfred  in.  detail.  The  chances  are  against 
him  in  the  great  battle  before  him.  Brave  and  true 
men  have  fallen.  There  is  no  true  heroism  like  that 
which  meets  arid  beats  back  the  temptations  which, 
like  ten  thousand  whirlpools,  circle  and  seethe  every- 
where in  the  ocean  of  life. 

Alfred  was  alone,  and  the  principles  of  virtue  and 
truth  not  too  well  fixed.  The  very  manner  in  which 
he  hud  been  educated  at  home  had  robbed  such 
principles  cf  their  real  attractions.  He  remem- 


176  MINNTE    HERMON. 

bered  sucli  teachings  as  associated  with  the  harsh 
word  and  the  stinging  blow.  As  he  turned  to  the 
gay  world,  its  gayeties  and  pleasures  had  beauties 
which  have  too  often  proved  fatal  to  those  of  sterner 
mould.  He  was  impulsive,  generous  and  brave  ;  and 
under  the  influences  of  a  right  education  at  home,  he 
would  have  been  one  of  nature's  noblemen. 

Alfred  remembered  his  mother,  and  felt  that  he 
should  always  respect  her  parting  advice.  Poor  boy  ! 
How  soon  he  learned  his  weakness.  By  degrees,  yet 
rapidly,  he  was  drawn  into  the  mesh.  His  was  a  na- 
ture to  welcome  all  that  wore  the  guise  of  friendship, 
and  the  result  was  that  he  found  himself  a  dupe  and 
a  victim  of  designing  knaves,  his  good  resolutions 
vanished,  and  himself  floating  away  resistlessly  upon 
the  tide  of  ruin.  Often  he  thought  of  his  mother, 
but  temptation  came  again  and  again,  and  still  closer 
her  bonds  were  tightened  around  the  boy.  He  beat 

the  current  with  feebler  stroke,  and  turned  to  go  down 

• 

to  his  fate. 

Six  months  had  passed  since  Mrs.  Snyder  bid  "  good 
bye  "  to  her  boy  at  the  old  farm  gate.  Not  a  waking 
hour  of  that  time  had  passed  in  which  she  had  not 
thought  of  him,  and  lifted  her  prayer  to  God  to  watch 
over  him,  and  guide  his  footsteps.  As  she  sat  at  the 
morning  and  evening  meal,  the  eye  would  flood  as  it 
turned  to  a  spot  at  the  board  no  longer  filled.  In  his 
chamber  she  thought  and  dreamed,  and  with  longings 
which  only  a  mother  can  know,  looked  for  his  coming 
at-some  future  day. 


CNMOOEED  FROM  THE  HEAKTH.         177 

—  The  mother  may  dream,  but  she  shall  puss  from 
the  earth  and  see  him  not. 

And  happy  for  her  that  she  cannot  see  him  now, 
as  he  mingles  with  the  abandoned  in  the  dens  of  vice. 
The  fair  cheek  is  already  red  and  swollen,  and  the 
eye  inflamed.  How  swiftly  ruin  has  written  its  Ian 
guage  on  that  handsome  face  and  manly  frame,  and 
upon  his  manner  and  apparel. 

The  hallowed  face  of  his  mother  mingles  in  the 
dreams  of  his  drunken  slumbers,  like  faint  sunbursts 
struggling  into  the  dank  and  dark  dungeon-house  of 
death.  Dim,  and  still  more  dim,  appeared  that  form 
as  it  receded  in  the  distance,  leaving  the  nightmares 
of  ruin  to  riot  undisturbed  in  the  heart  of  the  victim. 

At  times,  as  the  fumes  of  a  debauch  passed  off',  his 
better  nature  would  struggle  bravely  for  a  moment, 
and  the  yet  proud  spirit  chafe  against  the  fetters  which 
bound  him.  How  eagerly  the  sick  and  bruised  boy 
then  turned  his  thoughts  homeward,  and  to  his  mother, 
who  stood  at  the  old  farm  gate,  as  on  the  night  they 
parted,  with  outstretched  arms  to  welcome  him  back ! 
A  thousand  times,  the  first  impulse  had  been,  to  go  ; 
but  instantly  a  stern  and  relentless  shadow  passed 
in  before  him,  and  with  fierce  words  and  thongs,  drove 
him  back  —  the  shadow  of  his  father !  He  could  not, 
would  not  go  back  as  he  was,  and  he  had  not  strength 
to  burst  away  and  win  an  honored  name  among  men. 
There  was  an  enemy  in  his  bosom  stronger  than  he — 
a  sneering  devil,  who  smiled  upon  the  impotent  strug- 
gles of  the  enslaved  one. 


178  MINNIE   HERMON. 

Late  one  night  Alfred  Snyder  was  found  in  the  street 
near  the  wharf,  drunk  and  asleep. 

When  he  awoke  in  the  morning,  he  was  bewildered 
and  lost.  He  pressed  his  hand  upon  his  brow,  where 
sharp  pains  shot  fiercely  through  every  vein.  He 
experienced  strange  emotions  —  the  bed  seeming  to 
rise  and  fall  as  if  tossed  on  an  ocean  swell.  He  at- 
tributed the  sensation  to  his  debauch,  but  he  heard 
the  creak  of  cordage  above  him,  and  a  sound  like  the 
dashing  of  waves  near  his  head.  A  dim  light  strug- 
gled in  through  a  small  window  above  his  bed,  and 
he  arose  and  attempted  to  stand  upon  his  feet.  The 
room  rocked,  and  he  believed  himself  yet  drunk, 
though  he  could  remember  distinctly  the  scenes  of  the 
previous  evening.  He  groped  around  to  find  a  door, 
but  reeled  and  stumbled  against  his  bed.  That  sound 
of  dashing  waves  still  continued,  and  he  shut  his  eyes 
to  determine  whether  he  was  not  still  dreaming.  At 
last  he  managed  to  climb  up  to  the  window  by  stand- 
ing on  the  bed,  and  look  out.  It  could  not  be  a  dream I 
yet,  there  met  his  bewildered  gaze  one  wide  expanse 
of  blue  water,  the  long,  unbroken  swells  plunging 
sullenly  towards  a  faint  blue  cloud  in  the  distant  hor- 
izon. He  was  on  board  a  vessel,  and  the  wide  waters 
rolling  between  him  and  the  shore ! 

Drunk  and  insensible,  Alfred  had  been  borne  to  the 
ship  which  was  outward  bound  for  a  three-years 
cruise.  As  the  sun  went  down  that  day,  he  leaned 
over  the  bulwarks  of  the  vessel  and  looked  out  on 
the  bright  pathway  of  gold,  which  mockingly  smiled 


UNMOORED   FROM   THE    HEARTH.  179 

away  towards  the  distant  home.  Again  he  thought 
of  that  Eden  and  its  mother,  and  a  hot  tear  leaped 
from  his  feverish  cheek,  and  was  borne  shoreward 
by  the  receding  wave. 

We  shall  make  too  much  of  a  digression  if  we 
trace  all  the  wanderings  of  Alfred  Snyder.  He 
was  wrecked  on  the  Barbary  coast,  and  for  three 
years  was  a  slave  to  the  Moor.  He  escaped  from 
his  bondage  but  to  be  wrecked  again  on  the  west- 
ern shore  of  Africa,  and  struggle  for  weeks  with  fe- 
ver and  deprivation.  He  was  at  last  taken  up  by  a 
elaver,  and  afterwards  taken  by  pirates,  and  entered 
as  one  of  their  number  in  their  bloody  trade. 


CHAPTEE  XVI. 

THE   STEANGEK   IN   THE  TARPAULIN. 

IT  was  one  of  the  days  of  late  autumn.  The  morn- 
ing was  cold  and  cloudy,  and  the  ocean  swells  came 
plunging  darkly  to  the  shore.  A  chill  wind  blew  out 
in  gusts,  sweeping  the  water  from  rising  billows,  and 
bearing  it  along  in  drifting  clouds  of  spray.  The 
streets  were  damp  from  the  night  before,  and  all 
things  wore  a  dismal  and  cheerless  aspect. 

Towards  noon  the  heavy  fogs  rolled  out  from  the 
shore,  and  the  sun  struggled  feebly  through  the  bro- 
ken clouds.  Far  out,  with  all  sails  set,  a  vessel  was 
beating  towards  the  harbor.  But  not  until  late  in  the 
afternoon  did  she  drop  her  anchor  at  the  wharf  and 
furl  her  damp  sails. 

With  a  glass,  one  might  have  stood  on  the  wharf 
and  noticed  a  person  on  the  deck  of  that  ship,  as  mo- 
tionless as  a  block,  leaning  over  the  bulwarks,  his  chin 
resting  on  his  hand.  The  sailors  were  busy  aboard, 
but  he  moved  not,  until  the  anchor  dropped  and  the 
vessel  rocked  like  a  weary  and  panting  monster  at  the 
wharf.  He  then  started  like  a  man  from  a  deep  slum- 
ber, and  paced  the  deck  with  a  quick  and  impatient 
tread. 

A  week  or  ten  days  from  the  time  above  alluded 


THE   STRANGER    IN    THE    TARPAULIN.  181 

to,  a  man  might  have  been  seen  toiling  up  the  long 
hill  which  led  to  the  village  of  Oakvale,  with  a  slow 
•and  weary  step.  His  sailor  garb  was  hard-worn  and 
dv.sty.  His  feet  were  blistered  from  travel,  and  he 
carried  his  shoes  in  his  hand,  stopping  frequently  (o 
rest  by  the  way-side.  His  face  bronzed  and  weather- 
beaten,  and  marked  with  scars,  and  grossly  red,  his 
eye  red  and  fierce,  and  his  hair  long  and  matted. 
The  frame  was  a  noble  one  in  its  proportions,  but  the 
step  had  none  of  the  vigor  of  mature  manhood.  Slowly 
and  silently  he  pursued  his  way,  nor  noticed  the  pass- 
er-by who  turned  to  look  again  at  the  dust-covered 
and  uncouth-looking  stranger. 

As  he  reached  the  top  of  the  hill  overlooking  the 
village,  he  turned  from  the  beaten  path,  and  seated 
himself  upon  the  stones  which  had  tumbled  from  the 
old  wall,  and  with  his  arms  resting  upon  his  knees, 
gazed  long  and  earnestly  towards  the  village.  The 
sun  was  setting  without  a  cloud,  and  its  beams  rested 
in  all  their  autumnal  loveliness  upon  the  landscape. 
Peacefully  it  went  down  behind  the  western  hills, 
and  still  the  traveler  gazed,  until  the  mingled  hum  of 
the  evening  sounds  came  up  the  valley.  The  moon 
was  already  in  the  sky,  and  the  soft  twilight ;  and  clear 
and  distinct  the  church  bell  pealed  out  and  swelled 
up,  and  then  rolled  away  like  waves  upon  the  trem- 
bling air.  That  iron  voice  startled  the  traveler,  and 
a  thousand  thoughts  might  have  been  seen  creeping 
over  his  swollen  features.  Again  he  listened,  and  as 
the  last  notes  died  out  in  a  murmur,  he  bowed  his 


182  MINNIE    HERMON. 

head  and  wept.     Like  the  showering  rain,  the  pent 
up  drops  glanced  from  the  feverish  cheek. 

The  prodigal  stood  again  in  the  outskirts  of  his  na- 
tive village :  the  scarred  and  weather-beaten  sailor 
was  Alfred  Snyder.  He  had  returned,  and  there  he 
stood  on  the  bridge  and  looked  down  upon  the  shim- 
mering waters  of  the  stream.  He  lived  again  in  the 
past,  and  stood  there  as  when  a  boy.  But  what  a 
shadow  had  passed  over  the  years  of  his.  manhood. 

Alfred  entered  the  village.  Many  of  the  buildings 
remained  as  when  he  left,  and  he  walked  up  the  fa- 
miliar street  like  one  in  a  dream.  How  strangely  the 
memories  of  other  years  stole  back  in  their  early 
freshness,  until  it  seemed  but  a  day  that  he  left  it  all 
and  the  dwellings  and  the  stream,  the  bridge  over- 
grown with  grass,  and  the  mellow  moonlight,  the 
clump  of  hemlocks  below,  and  the  weather-beaten 
school-house  across  the  pond,  were  the  same  as  then. 
It  was  a  happy,  an  ecstatic  dream ;  and  as  he  thought 
of  how  much  he  would  give  were  it  in  his  power  to 
buy  back  the  past,  and  blot  out  his  manhood's  years 
and  their  dark  history,  he  wept  again. 

Here  was  the  old  church,  the  grass  green  around 
its  old  steps,  and  the  tin  dome  glimmering  in  the 
moonbeams.  Alfred  passed  round  to  the  window  by 
the  shed,  and  climbing  upon  the  old  bench,  peered  in 
through  the  window.  "What  thrilling  thoughts  throb- 
bed in  his  bosom  as  he  attempted  to  scan  familiar 
places  in  the  dim  light.  The  moonbeams  fell  upon 
the  old  desk  where  his  father  had  preached  from  his 


THE   STRANGER   IK  THE   TARPAULIN.  183 

infancy,  and  across  into  the  family  pew.  Did  he 
preach  there  now,  and  his  mother  sit  in  that  old  pew  ? 
The  outlines  of  the  organ  were  shadowy.  Where  was 
she  who  once  sat  at  the  keys  ? 

The  prodigal  turned  away  from  the  holy  silence 
which  reigned  within  the  church,  and  passed  into  the' 
heart  of  the  village.  The  same  tavern  sign  swung 
between  the  posts,  and  the  same  "  stoop  "  was  there. 
He  passed  quickly  on,  for  it  seemed  sacrilege  to  invade 
the  better  thoughts  which  now  possessed  him  with 
the  bitter  memories  of  the  tavern  house.  A  few  steps, 
and  he  stood  where  he  parted  from  his  mother.  He 
trod  softly,  for  it  was  holy  ground  to  him,  and  invol- 
untarily looked  to  see  his  mother,  as  she  then  stood 
at  the  gate  and  wept  her  good-bye.  Steadily  the 
tear  drops  ran  down  his  cheeks,  and  he  leaned  over 
the  gate,  yielding  himself  to  the  thoughts  which  bore 
him  away  like  a  flood.  There  stood  the  old  parson- 
age —  the  home  of  his  youth  ;  and  he  lingered,  and 
looked  through  streaming  eyes,  like  a  returning  wan- 
derer into  a  holy  Eden.  The  old  cherry  was  there 
still,  its  yellow  leaves  now  rustling  in  the  path  and 
upon  the  green  by  the  roadside.  The  little  porch 
had  not  changed,  and  the  wild  vines  clung  to  the 
eaves  as  of  yore.  His  own  chamber  window  was  there, 
and  tlio  low  root  beneath  it.  Ho  longed  to  go  in  and 
look  into  the  garden,  but  dared  not  touch  the  brass 
knocker  upon  the  front  door.  He  felt  that  he  would 
have  given  worlds  to  have  known  if  his  mother  was 
there,  yet  dreaded  to  know.  He  listened  foi  her 


184  MINNIE  HEEMON. 

footstep  as  he  once  used  to  hear  it,  when  she  watched 
late  for  his  return,  but  it  was  the  rustling  of  the  leaves 
which  had  fallen  in  the  walk.  Was  the  mother  there, 
or  had  she  passed  away,  and  strangers  taken  her  place? 
The  moon  came  brightly  out  of  the  clouds,  and  he 
passed  up  to  look  upon  the  old  lion-faced  knocker. 
As  his  foot  fell  upon  the  sill,  the  dark  shadow  of  a 
cloud  passed  over  the  sky,  and  he  shrunk  timidly 
back  to  the  gate.  But  he  felt  that  he  must  know, 
and  he  again  stood  within  the  little  porch  and  peered 
into  the  face  of  the  bronzed  lion  for  the  familiar  name 
His  heart  sank  within  him,  for  another  name  was 
there,  and  the  stern  image  seemed  to  frown  upon  him, 
and  he  turned  away,  as  weak  as  a  child. 

Without  a  thought,  he  had  turned  up  the  street; 
and  stood  in  front  of  the  old  church-yard,  its  sable 
gate  standing  dark  and  sombre  at  the  entrance. 
Guilty  as  Alfred  was,  and  his  hand  red  with  crime, 
the  flowing  tears,  and  the  sacred  memories  which 
brought  them,  made  him  forget  his  own  degradation, 
and  he  sought  the  grave-yard  as  a  place  of  rest.  He 
had  not  yet  thought  that  his  mother  might  be  there 
until  he  stood  among  the  sodded  mounds ;  and  when 
the  thought  came  upon  him,  he  gasped  for  breath, 
and  leaned  heavily  against  the  fence.  That  mother 
had  been  a  beacon  which  had  guided  him  in  his  wan- 
derings towards  home,  and  he  felt  that  if  it  had  gone 
down  in  the  grave,  there  was  no  hope  for  him.  The 
bruised  prodigal  felt  that  she  could  save  him,  and 


THE   STRANGER   IN   THE   TARPAULIN.  185 

he  shuddered  as  he  cast  his  eye  upon  the  white  mar- 
ble that  stood  in  the  moonlight. 

Alfred  knew  where  his  brothers  and  sisters  were 
buried,  and,  as  if  dreading  some  fearful  revelation, 
bo  passed  on  among  the  graves.  How  loud  the  sear 
leaves  in  the  hollows  rustled  in  the  stillness  of  the 
night.  Weak,  trembling,  and  dizzy,  he  reached  the 
iron  paling,  and  for  a  moment  shut  his  eyes  in  dread. 
The  cold  drops  stood  out  upon  his  brow,  and  yet  his 
cheek  burned  hotly.  He  lifted  his  tarpaulin  from  his 
head,  and  as  the  cool  night  wind  stirred  his  shaggy 
locks,  he  felt  strengthened.  And  there,  in  that  en 
closure,  stood  a  large  marble  slab.  With  the  weak 
ness  of  a  child,  he  reached  out  and  clung  convulsive- 
ly to  the  monument,  and  read,  as  he  dropped  his  hat 
upon  the  grave,  "  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  MAR? 
SNYDER,  who  died  May  10th,  18 — ,  aged  56." 

His  mother  was  dead,  and  the  grass  of  four  sum- 
mers had  been  green  on  her  grave.  That  beacon  to 
which  he  clung  for  salvation,  had  gone  down  in  the 
night  of  death,  and  he  was  alone  !  Her  arms  were 
not  spread  to  receive  him.  or  her  tears  of  welcome  to 
fa1!  upon  his  neck.  Hope  died  away  in  the  prodigal's 
heart  the  graves  swam  around  him,  and  he  fell  heav- 
ily upon  the  leaf-covered  mound,  his  scalding  drops 
pouring  out  the  love  of  years,  and  mingling  with  the 
dew  which  trembled  like  gems  upon  the  rank  blades. 

—  The  fallen  one  would  have  been  happy  could 
he  have  lain  his  head  by  the  side  of  his  mother's 
upon  its  pillow  of  earth,  and  vi  ith  her  been  at  rest. 


CHAPTER    XYII. 

THE   TRIAL. 

As  the  time  approached  for  the  trial  of  Ricks,  the 
circumstances  of  his  crime  were  again  brought  to  the 
public  attention  with  an  interest  equal  to  their  first 
development.  His  conviction  and  execution  were 
looked  upon  as  a  matter  of  course. 

Time  had  laid  a  heavy  hand  upon  the  murderer 
during  his  imprisonment,  and  the  days  had  been  dark 
and  dreary.  There  were  none  of  kin  to  befriend  him  in 
this  great  trouble,  and  there  were  few  in  the  commu- 
nity who  ever  gave  a  thought  to  the  prisoner  in  his 
cell.  Elder  Snyder  had  never  yet  seen  Ricks  since 
his  confinement,  but  had  contented  himself  with 
thundering  wrath  upon  his  head  from  the  pulpit. 

But  there  was  one  who  visited  him  often.  The 
penitent  and  humble  criminal  had  learned  to  listen  to 
her  footfall  as  that  of  an  angel  oi  peace.  To  her  he 
was  indebted  for  many  a  comfort,  and  many  a  word 
of  kindness  and  consolation.  Hers  was  the  only 
countenance  which  had  smiled  upon  him  in  his  soli- 
tude. Her  woman's  heart  had  sympathized  with  his, 
and  her  tears  had  mingled  with  his  tears,  while,  with 
the  calm  and  cheering  faith  of  the  Christian,  she 
pointed  him  to  ono  who  could  save  to  the  uttermost. 


THE    TRIAL.  187 

There  was  a  sublimity  in  the  scene  —the  red-handed 
murderer  bowing  and  weeping  like  a  child,  as  the 
gentle  friend  plead  in  her  sweet  low  voice  for  one  so 
deeply  guilty.  When  those  who  had  shared  the  pris- 
oner's too  generous  bounty  left  him  to  his  fate  with- 
out a  word  of  commiseration,  the  daughter  of  the  man 
who  had  brought  the  ruin  upon  him  clung  to  him 
like  a  sister.  As  Ricks  thought  of  all  she  had  done 
for  him,  he  forgot  much  of  his  bitterness  against  the 
father. 

So  strong  was  the  current  against  Ricks,  that  none 
of  the  lawyers  would  defend  him.  The  ruined  man 
had  no  money  or  wealthy  friends  with  which  to  com- 
mand aid.  On  the  day  before  the  trial,  the  one  at 
first  retained  avowed  his  determination  to  abandon 
the  case. 

"  You  are  a  sensible  man,"  responded  Hermon 
from  his  bar,  "  his  case  is  hopeless.  A  man  would  gain 
no  credit  or  money  in  such  a  case.  He  must  swing.'' 

"  And  he  ought  to,  if  ever  a  man  did,"  continued 
several  in  the  bar-room. 

"  There,  are  those  who  deserve  the  rope  more ! " 
hissed  the  man  in  the  tarpaulin. 

"  That  may  be,"  retorted  Hermon,  looking  mean- 
ingly into  the  face  of  the  speaker. 

"  And  will  hang  yet ! "  deliberately  added  the 
stranger,  rising  to  confront  Hermon,  that  wild  eye 
kindling  with  unwonted  glitter,  as  it  gazed  into  that 
of  the  shrinking  landlord.  The  latter  turned  away 
as  from,  a  reptile's  spring,  for  there  was  something 


188  MINNIE    UERMON. 

about  the  sailoi  which  always  repelled  too  much 
license. 

"  And  why,  may  I  ask,"  said  Doctor  Howard,  who 
had  listened  to  the  conversation.  "  should  not  Ricks 
be  defended '? " 

"  He  owns  up,  and  what 's  the  use  ? "  answered 
Hermon,  glad  to  get  rid  of  the  sailor. 

"  But  the  worst  men  are  entitled  to  counsel  Our 
laws  guarantee  it." 

"But  he  has  nothing  to  pay.  Can't  expect  people 
to  defend  a  gone  case  for  nothing." 

'•  Perhaps,"  coolly  remarked  the  Doctor,  "  some  of 
his  friends  will  aid  him  with  means,  eh  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  mean,  sir,  by  ' ' friends  f ' "  angrily  de- 
manded Hermou. 

"  Those  who  have  his  money  in  their  pockets"  re- 
plied Howard,  looking  the  landlord  calmly  in  the 
eye. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  —  that  I  have  got 
any  of  his  money  ? " 

"  1  meant  what  I  said,"  continued  the  Doctor,  with 
coolness,  in  spite  of  the  angry  advance  and  menace 
of  Hermon.  "  Ricks  once  had  enough  to  employ  able 
and  honorable  counsel,  and  command  the  respect  of 
those  who  like  cowards  heap  their  venom  upon  his 
name."  The  shot  told,  and  there  was  a  brief  silence 
fin  the  room.  Coloring  deeply,  the  lawyer  turned 
from  the  bar  where  he  had  just  swallowed  a  dram, 
and  inquired  of  Howard  if  he  meant  to  "  insinuate 
anything  by  the  word  honorable." 


THE   TRIAL.  189 

"  Yes,  sir ;  and  to  make  the  matter  understood,  I 
now  say  that  no  honorable  man  would  desert  a  client 
because  his  cause  is  bad  and  his  purse  empty.  I 
trust  there  is  no  insinuation  about  that !  " 

"  Do  you  mean  to  say,  sir, 

"  Just  what  I  did,  Mr.  Skillott,"  broke  in  the  Doe 
tor,  as  he  saw  the  former  move  towards  him  with 
clenched  fists.  "  Men  who  win  money  so  easy,  should 
not  desert  a  client  with  an  empty  purse  ! " 

"  But,"  said  Skillott,  in  a  more  softened  tone,  "  the 
man  is  a  bad  man.  He  acknowledges  himself  guilty 
of  a  brutal  murder,  and  declares  his  determination  to 
plead  guilty.  What  is  the  use  of  a  defence  ?  " 

"  Every  man,  sir,  is  entitled  to  a  defence.  Ricks, 
at  heart,  is  no  more  a  murderer  than  you  or  I." 

"  How  can  you  make  that  out  ?  " 

"  The  process  is  simple.  He  was  maddened  with 
liquor.  When  sober,  he  loved  his  family  and  was 
kind." 

"  Nobody  was  to  blame  for  his  drinking  but  him 
self,  I  am  sure.     It  was  his  own  business." 

"The  man  who  sold  to  him  was  more  to  blame. 
He  knew  the  appetite  of  Ricks,  and  how  he  treated 
his  family  when  in  liquor,  and  in  rigid  justice  is  as 
much  guilty  of  the  crime  as  Ricks." 

"  You  're  a rascal  !  "  belched  Herrnon,  spring- 
ing for  the  poker,  and  brandishing  it  over  Howard's 
head.  There  was  a  crimson  flush  upon  the  cheek  of 
the  latter,  but  it  passed  away,  and  he  eyed  his  infuri- 
nted  enemy  with  a  steady  nerve. 


190  MINNIE    HERMOX. 

"  Keep  cool,  Mr.  Hermon  ;  jou  '11  find  it  a  more 
troublesome  matter  to  attack  a  sober  man  than  to  put 
a  drunken  one  into  the  street." 

"  You  deserve  to  be  kicked  into  the  street.  A 
murderer,  indeed ! "  muttered  the  landlord  of  the 
"  Home,"  as  he  trembled  with  rage. 

"  Mr.  Hermon,  there  are  ways  of  committing  mur- 
der without  coming  within  reach  of  human  laws. 
But  God's  laws  are  plain.  You  could  not  sell  arsenic 
to  a  man  who  you  knew  would  use  it  for  self-destruc- 
tion. You  cannot  dig  a  pit  that  a  neighbor  may  fall 
therein,  or  let  an  unruly  ox  run  at  large." 

"  But,  sir,  how  did  /ever  touch  Ricks'  family  ? " 

"  Touched  them  with  the  most  cruel  torture.  You 
knew  that  every  sixpence  Ricks  brought  you  was 
needed  by  his  family,  and  yet  you  took  it  to  the  last 
one,  and  sent  there  that  which  you  knew  was  destroy- 
ing them  by  inches.  You  laid  the  train  to  their  door, 
liable  at  any  moment  to  produce  just  such  results  as 
we  have  witnessed.  But  for  this  tavern,  Ricks  would 
now  be  an  innocent,  a  wealthy  and  an  honorable  man. 
If,  as  in  olden  time,  the  blood  of  the  murdered 
should  be  traced  to  the  nearest  threshold,  your  own 
would  be  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  the  Ricks 
family." 

"False  as  h — 11 !  "  thundered  Hermon.  "  I  have  a 
license  to  sell,  you  abusive  scoundrel,  and  am  not  ac- 
countable for  other  men's  doings.  I  tend  to  my  own 
business,  and  I  wish  others  would  mind  theirs." 

"  Be  sure  you  take  your  license  to  your  grave  and 


THE   TKIAL.  191 

to  God  ;  and  may  you  find  that  and  your  own  hand 
guiltless  of  others'  Kood  !  Good  morning,  Mr.  Her- 
mon,"  bowed  Howard,  slowly  turning  upon  his  heel 
and  going  out. 

u  Please  remember,  gentlemen,  what  that  man  said. 
I  '11  sweeten  him  for  slander,  or  my  name  ain't  Iler- 
mon,"  hissed  the  exasperated  landlord,  as  he  turned 
into  his  bar. 

"  We  (hie)  —  we  will,  and  more  too,"  stuttered  a 
poor  sot,  reeling  on  the  "  bunk  "  in  the  corner. 

"  Yes,  for  the  murderers  are  not  all  hung  yet," 
added  the  sailor,  as  he  sat  with  his  chin  in  his  palms. 

"  Take  that,  you  devil !  "  shouted  the  gored  land- 
lord, bringing  the  poker,  still  in  his  hand,  down 
fiercely  over  the  speaker. 

With  the  spring  of  a  cat,  the  latter  writhed  from  the 
blow,  and  fastened  upon  the  throat  of  his  assailant. 

"  Playing  poker,  eh  ?  Think  to  train  Tarpaulin  be 
cause  he 's  crazy,  eh  ?  Not  so  easy  killing  sober  men  I 
Stick  to  your  bottles,  and  let  iron  alone,  and  murdei 
in  safety — ha,  ha,  ha!"  That  half-maniac  laugh 
fairly  burned  upon  Hermon's  cheek,  so  near  was  the 
face  of  the  sailor,  as  he  glanced  with  a  fiendish  glee 
upon  him.  That  iron  grip  would  have  proved  fatal 
in  a  moment  more,  for  his  eyes  rolled  back  in  his 
head,  and  his  tongue,  black  and  swollen,  protruded 
from  his  mouth. 

"  Stick  to  your  bottles,  Mr.  Hermon  ;  there  is  more 
blood  to  shed,  and  men  to  hang  !  "  hissed  the  sailor, 
as  he  released  Hermon,  and  again  emitted  that  pecu- 


192  MINNIE    HKBMON. 

liar  chuckle.     When  Hermon  recovered  his  voice,  the 
sailor  had  gone. 

Walter  Bray  ton  had  just  completed  the  study  of 
the  law,  and  returned  to  Oakvale  on  the  evening  pre- 
ceding the  trial  of  Ricks.  His  generous  and  noble 
nature  was  indignant,  when  he  learned  that  his  coun- 
sel had  deserted  him  just  on  the  eve  of  his  trial. 
Walter's  resolution  was  taken,  and  he  immediately 
took  his  way  to  the  jail,  though  late  in  the  evening, 
for  the  purpose  of  offering  his  services  in  the  case. 

It  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  Walter  ob- 
tained admittance  to  the  prison.  Had  not  the  jailer 
been  a  personal  friend,  the  doors  would  have  been 
closed  against  him  ;  for  the  sheriff,  Landlord  Hermon, 
had  that  day  strictly  forbidden  such  privileges  to  the 
prisoner.  "I  have  already  violated  the  injunction," 
said  the  kind-hearted  man,  as  he  put  the  key  in  the 
lock. 

As  they  entered  the  passage  leading  to  the  cell  a 
female  figure,  deeply  muffled,  stood  at  the  grated 
door  awaiting  the  coming  of  the  jailer.  As  the  pon- 
derous engine  swung  grating  back,  the  figure,  drawing 
the  hood  still  more  closely  over  her  features,  passed 
lightly  and  swiftly  out. 

"That,'  said  the  jailer,  "is  the  only  person,  Law- 
yei  Skillott  excepted,  who  has  ever  visited  Ricks 
aince  his  confinement." 

"  I  was  not  aware,"  said  Brayton,  "  that  the  unfor- 
tunate man  had  any  kindred  left.  Who  can  she  be  ? " 
he  continued,  in  a  tone  of  surprise. 


THE    TRIAL.  193 

"  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  tell  her  name,  even  to  you  ; 
but  she  is  one  of  the  angels  of  earth,  and  never  fails, 
in  any  weather,  to  visit  the  prisoner.  A  thousand 
comforts,  sir,  and  what  is  more,  kind  and  forgiving 
words,  have  come  from  her.  I  have  been  blamed  for 
it  all,  but  she  comes  and  goes  in  the  night,  and  I  could 
not  help  it.  Her  voice  would  open  the  doors  them- 
selves, it  seems  to  me,  it  is  so  soft  and  kind,  and  her 
face  is  so  sad.  Poor  girl,  she  is  seeing  sorrow,"  and 
the  kind-hearted  man  brushed  away  a  tear  with  his 
sleeve. 

Brayton  found  Ricks  bowed  over  his  Bible  and  in 
tears,  but  the  latter  welcomed  his  young  visitor  with 
a  smile.  To  Walter's  proposition,  however,  he  main- 
tained a  determined  opposition  for  a  long  time. 

"  But,"  said  Walter,  earnestly,  laying  his  hand  upon 
the  prisoner's  arm,  "  you  are  not  entirely  indifferent 
to  the  opinion  of  the  world.  You  are  looked  upon  as 
one  of  the  most  cold-blooded  of  

"  Murderers,  you  would  say,"  broke  in  Ricks,  with  a 
shudder,  as  Walter  hesitated. 

"  But,"  continued  the  latter, "you  are  not.  You 
were  maddened  with  rum.  You  loved  your  wife  and 
children  as  well  as  any  man.  By  these  memories, 
and  for  your  own  name,  it  is  your  duty  as  well  as  a 
privilege  to  make  a  defence.  To  be  sure,  the  case  is 
a  dark  one,  but  we  can  hope  for  the  best." 

"  Hope  !  "  echoed  Ricks,  in  a  hollow  voice,  "  I  hope 
for  nothing  but  the  rest  of  the  grave  ;  —  I  dare  not 
hope  for  Heaven.  And  yet,  Walter,  as  I  am  a  dying 


MINNIE    HEKMON. 

man,  I  am  not  a  cold-blooded  murderer,"  and  the 
cheek  blushed  redly  at  his  own  words.  "  I  did  love 
Mary  and  my  children.  God!  what  a  horrible 
dream,"  he  muttered,  as  he  bowed  his  face  in  the 
open  book  before  him,  \mtil  the  pages  were  wet  with 
hot  tears. 

"But  I  have  not  a  farthing  in  the  world,''  said 
Ricks,  looking  up. 

"  Don't  speak  of  money,"  quickly  replied  Brayton. 
"  I  am  young,  and  have  no  experience,  but  it  will 
afford  me  a  happiness  you  will  not  deny  me,  I  am 
sure,  to  allow  me  to  aid  you  what  I  can." 

"  Well,  let  it  be  as  you  wish,  but  it  will  be  of  no 
use.  Yet  I  shall  owe  you  much  for  your  kindness, 
for  the  friends  who  have  remembered  me  in  my  mis- 
fortune are  few.  But  one  friend,  besides  yourself 
and  the  jailer,  sir,  has  ever  been  within  these  walls. 
May  God  bless  her  for  what  she  has  done  for  me. 
Her  father,  though  he  has  ruined  me,  has  even  or- 
dered that  a  friend  should  not  see  me." 

"  Her  father !     And  she  whom  we  met  was   

"  Minnie  Hermon"  added  Ricks.  "  Her  kindness 
alone  has  made  life  bearable.  Would  that  I  had  her 
faith  in  the  Redeemer  ! " 

—  Walter  went  out  with  a  holier  love  for  the  rum- 
seller's  daughter. 


The  streets  of  Oakvale  were  thronged  early  on  the 
day  of  the  trial.     By  the  time  the  court  opened,  the 


THE    TRIAL.  195 

court  room  \vas  packed  by  the  people  of  the  village 
and  the  surrounding  country,  the  dense  mass  swaying 
in  excitement  as  the  prisoner  was  brought  in  and 
placed  at  the  bar.  He  vengeful  feelings  gave  way  in 
many  a  heart  to  the  nobler  one  of  sympathy  and  pity, 
as  those  who  had  known  Ricks  once,  looked  upon 
him  now.  He  had  come  forth  from  his  cell  with  his 
hair  of  a  snowy  white,  and  the  form  and  bearing  of 
an  old  man.  In  the  darkness  of  his  imprisonment 
the  bronze  had  faded  from  his  cheek  and  brow,  anc 
they  were  now  of  an  ashy  paleness.  There  was  a  slight 
flush  on  his  features,  as  he  looked  round  upon  the  mul- 
titude. As  he  seated  himself,  his  eye  fell  upon  a 
pitcher  of  flowers  standing  before  him,  made  up  of 
the  choicest  of  the  season,  and  tastefully  arranged. 
The  prisoner  well  knew  what  hand  placed  them  there^ 
and  the  thought  of  her,  with  the  perfume  of  the  flow- 
ers, stole  like  a  cooling  shadow  upon  his  burning 
cheek. 

"Who  is  your  counsel?"  asked  the  judge  of  the 
prisoner,  as  it  was  well  known  that  Skillott  had  re- 
fused to  have  anything  more  to  do  with  the  defence. 
Ricks  looked  around,  and  a  shadow  passed  across  his 
features,  as  he  felt  that  young  Brayton,  too,  had  been 
overawed  by  the  strong  sentiment  against  him.  At 
that  moment  the  stalwart  form  of  "Walter  Brayton 
was  seen  crowding  up  the  opening  in  front  of  the  bar. 
Slightly  pale,  but  apparently  calm,  the  boy  advocate 
took  his  seat  by  the  prisoner,  and  to  the  usual  ques 
tion  firmly  answered  "not  guiliy /" 


190  MINNIE    HKRMOF 

The  outside  interest  increased  at  the  prospect  of  a 
struggle,  but  the  cause  of  the  defence  seemed  so  utter- 
ly hopeless,  that  the  better  portion  of  the  audience 
turned  with  pity  from  the  prisoner  and  his  counsel, 
and  all  wondered  at  Brayton's  temerity  in  underta- 
king the  case  against  such  odds.  Skillott,  now  en- 
gaged on  the  prosecution,  smiled  with  ill-concealed 
contempt,  not  unmingled  with  delight,  as  he  counted 
upon  an  easy  triumph.  Walter's  eye  fell  upon  the 
bouquet  before  him.  To  his  better-informed  mind,  it 
read  a  language  which  nerved  every  purpose  within 
him  :  "  Hope,  faith,  courage,  deliverance  !  "  Wal- 
ter at  once  knew  that  the  messenger  spoke  to  the 
prisoner,  and  felt  a  thrill  as  he  recognized  the  hand 
of  the  author.  But  what  could  it  mean?  As  he 
raised  his  eyes  he  saw  the  sailor  gazing  upon  him 
with  a  meaning  but  mysterious  look. 

We  need  not  follow  the  trial  of  Ricks  through  in 
detail.  The  proof  was  conclusive,  and  left  not  a  loop- 
hole for  the  prisoner  to  hang  a  hope  upon. 

All  eyes  were  turned  upon  the  prisoner's  counsel 
as  he  arose  to  address  the  jury,  and  Bray  ton  himself 
felt  a  crushing  weight  upon  him.  There  was  a  tre- 
mor in  his  voice,  and  the  brief  shook  slightly  in  his 
hand.  An  insulting  sneer  rested  upon  the  face  of 
Skillott,  as  he  leaned  back  in  his  chair,  and  with  his 
thumbs  in  his  vest  looked  Brayton  full  in  the  face. 

Brayton  was  evidently  embarrassed,  and  blundered 
in  his  opening.  Tu  a  remark  that  he  was  inexperi- 
enced, Skillott  retorted  in  a  whispered  insult,  but 


THE    TRIAL.  197 

distinctly  heard  by  Brayton  and  the  bar.  The  half- 
suppressed  titter  stung  the  young  man,  but  he  waa 
calm  —  fearfully  cool  and  calm.  The  crowd  were 
taken  by  surprise  at  the  matter  and  manner  of  the 
young  advocate.  To  a  voice  of  unusual  depth  and 
power,  and  a  mien  noble  and  commanding,  he  added 
a  rich  imagination,  a  mind  well  stored  with  reading, 
and  a  logic  relentlessly  close  and  convincing.  Turn- 
ing his  kindling  eye  upon  Skillott,  he  deliberately 
stated  the  cause  of  his  treachery  to  the  prisoner,  with 
comments  so  withering,  that  the  smile  passed  quickly 
from  the  face  of  that  veteran  advocate,  and  he  looked 
more  like  a  guilty  one  than  the  prisoner.  The  bold 
and  successful  castigation  of  one  so  dreaded  in  the 
courts,  produced  a  sensation  in  the  room,  and  people 
essayed  more  eagerly  to  catch  the  tones  of  the  speak- 
er. But  as  he  warmed  and  forgot  himself,  they 
swelled  and  rolled  until  distinctly  heard  by  the  vast 
throng  assembled  without.  The  oldest  in  che  profes- 
sion were  taken  by  surprise.  Brayton's  argument  ex- 
hibited so  perfect  a  knowledge  of  all  the  intricacies 
of  the  law  ;  so  wide  and  thorough  an  acquaintance 
with  authorities  ;  so  complete  a  mastery  of  every  av- 
enue to  the  human  heart,  —  skill  in  attacking  and  de- 
fending, and  exhaustless  power  of  illustration,  —  that 
old  counselors  were  spell-bound  as  he  proceeded. 

After  going  through  with  the  testimony,  he  con- 
cluded : 

"  Gentlemen,  I  know  not  what  the  result  of  your  ver- 
dict may  be.  But  be  ware  how  human  prejudices  in- 


198  MINNIE    HERMON. 

fluence  your  decision  this  day.  The  unfortunate  man 
whose  life  is  at  stake,  may  be  guilty  of  wrong ;  but  it 
is  not  the  part  of  men  —  of  Christians,  to  pursue  an 
erring  brother  vindictively  into  the  very  presence  of 
a  final  Judge.  I  have  been  pained  at  the  unfeeling 
and  unforgiving  character  of  the  public  mind  in  rela- 
tion to  the  alleged  crime  of  the  prisoner  at  the  bar. 
He  was  in  prison  and  you  visited  him  not.  The  meek 
and  holy  Master,  who  wept  over  sin  and  spoke  kindly 
to  the  guilty,  has  found  no  representative  in  your 
midst,  save  one,  to  extend  the  most  common  human 
sympathy  to  the  lone  one  in  his  cell. 

"  Gentlemen,  you  are  all  the  creatures  of  circum 
stances  —  of  education.  The  ordeal  that  tries  men, 
brings  out  their  true  character.  Who  among  us  shall 
dare  to  say  that  no  temptation  could  shake  him  from 
his  position?  Man  does  not  know  himself.  The 
strongest  of  to-day,  tried  by  adversity  to-morrow,  may 
fail  —  the  best  may  err. 

"  Look  at  —  Kicks,  gentlemen  1  Until  his  ruin  by 
a  vice  now  too  lamentably  prevalent,  and  the  acts 
now  alleged  against  him,  was  he  not  the  peer  of  the 
proudest  in  this  community  ?  Who  of  you  ever  heard 
ought  against  him  or  his?  His  honor  was  untarnish- 
ed by  an  unworthy  word  or  deed,  his  generosity  al- 
most a  fault,  and  his  worth,  as  a  man  and  a  citizen, 
equal  to  any.  What  wrought  bis  ruin  ?  The  foul 
and  festering  hell  of  corruption,  whose  fumes  even 
now  come  up  into  the  precincts  of  the  very  temple 
of  justice.  Your  tavern  ruined  him.  But  for  that,  a 


THE   TKIAL.  199 

good  citizen  would  stand  blamele»s  among  you  to- 
day, and  a  husband  and  father  dwell  in  peace  in  the 
busom  of  a  happy  wife  and  children.  And  are  there 
none  to  blame  for  all  this  ruin  ?  Before  God,  I  be- 
lieve the  people  of  this  community  as  guilty  of  tho 
destruction  of  the  Ricks  family,  as  the  prisoner  at  the 
bar.  To  be  sure,  they  did  not  strike  the  blow.  But 
their  agents,  the  members  of  the  excise  board,  signed 
their  death  warrant ;  and  while  at  their  homes  and 
their  prayers,  the  devilish  work  was  carried  out. 
The  victim  was  first  bound  in  the  chains  of  an  appe- 
tite, which  has  ruined  the  strongest  intellects  evei 
created,  his  substance  taken  from  him,  and  his  brain 
maddened  with  poison.  Under  the  direct  influence 
of  liquor,  then  and  now  sold  by  law  in  this  communi- 
ty, he  committed  the  deed  charged  upon  him.  Who 
placed  that  temptation  in  his  way?  Are  none  but 
him  guilty  of  the  fatal  results?  The  rum  which 
caused  the  deed,  went  from  your  tavern.  As  I  once 
dared  to  say,  it  has  proved  a  curse  indeed.  You 
have,  Prometheus  like,  chained  down  the  victim,  and 
then  let  loose  vultures  to  tear  him.  There  are  acces- 
sories to  this  triple  murder,  who  are  not  punished  by 
law.  The  people  and  their  agents  are  particeps  crim- 
inis.  They  have  aided  and  abetted  the  sweeping 
tragedy.  There  is  broad  trail  of  blood  from  the  ruined 
altar  of  the  Ricks  family  to  your  own,  and  the  thresh- 
old of  your  tavern.  The  unoffending  wife  and  inno- 
cent children  died  legally  —  died  by  authority  of  the 
people  of  Oakvale  —  died  a  revolting  and  cruel  death, 


200  MINNIE    liERMON. 

under  a  warrant,  with  your  names,  through  your  del- 
egated instruments,  attached  in  full  to  the  parchment 
of  blood  ! 

"Gentlemen,  this  prisoner  is  not  the  only  one  who 
is  to  enter  this  room  in  custody.  Pauperism  and 
crime  are  being  manufactured  in  our  midst  at  a  fear- 
ful pace.  A  fearful  change  has  come  over  our  once 
peaceful  and  happy  village.  Our  families  have  been 
ruined,  and  our  fields  turned  to  waste.  Pauperism 
stalks  your  streets  in  its  rags.  Blood !  —  innocent 
blood,  smokes  hotly  from  the  licensed  butchery  of  the 
rum  demon.  There  is  a  note  of  sorrow,  and  a  maniac 
wail  upon  the  ear.  Mabel  Dunham  and  her  imbru- 
ted  father  —  Hinson  in  your  jail,  with  the  flesh  bitten 
from  his  arms,  and  his  body  drenched  in  blood  —  an 
esteemed  citizen  frozen  within  sight  of  his  own  door 

—  the  Watt  family  at  this  hour  weeping  around  the 
corpse  of  a  broken-hearted  mother  —  Ricks  the  elder, 
of  revolutionary  memory,  with  the  snows  of  winter  in 
his  thin  locks,  and  the  frost  in  his  eye — a  once  happy 
family,  at  rest  in  a  bloody  grave  —  families   once 
wealthy  and  respectabler  now  living  as  town  paupers 

—  scores  now  doomed  to  the  same  fate,  and  desola- 
tion and  wo  scattering  broadcast  among  all  classes, — 
all  point  to  your  liquor  business  as  the  source  of  all ! 
Blood  cries  from  the  ground,  and  fresh  tragedies  will 
startle,  when  too  late,  a  guilty  community  from  its 
deathly  slumbers 

4i  But  I  will  not  detain  you  longer.  I  leave  the 
fate  of  the  prisoner  with  you  and  with  God.  There 


THE    TRIAL.  201 

are  few  to  weep  in  the  event  of  a  conviction,  for  he 
has  no  kindred  on  earth.  The  last  of  a  noble  family 
is  before  you,  charged  with  a  capital  crime.  Those 
whom  he  loved,  as  you  love  those  dear  to  you,  are  in 
their  graves.  Whatever  may  be  the  result,  may  this 
community  bear  in  mind  the  period  when  the  prisoner 
at  the  bar  was  all  that  a  parent,  husband,  and  citizen 
should  be,  and  as  you  go  to  your  homes  this  night, 
ask  yourselves  the  question  —  what  caused  the  fall  of 
one  so  high  in  your  estimation  ? " 

There  were  few  dry  eyes  in  the  audience  during 
portions  of  the  plea  for  the  prisoner.  The  judge's  lip 
even  quivered  with  emotion.  In  the  minds  of  some, 
new  light  had  dawned  in  relation  to  the  liquor 
business,  while  others  ground  their  teeth,  and  watched 
the  bold  advocate  with  lowering  brows. 

Skillott's  plea  was  labored  and  bitter : — aimed  more 
at  Brayton  and  his  "  dastardly  slanders  "  upon  a  re- 
spectable community  and  profession.  He  evidently 
writhed  under  the  reflection  that  he  had  met  with  an 
antagonist  more  than  his  match. 

The  charge  was  feeling  but  plain,  and  after  a  brief 
deliberation,  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  "guilty." 
On  being  asked  if  he  had  anything  to  say,  Ricks  arose 
and  said :  « 

"  I  have  but  a  word  to  say.  I  wish  to  look  you, 
gentlemen,  in  the  face,  and  every  neighbor  in  this 
room,  and  before  God,  declare  that  I  am  not  a  delib- 
erate, willful  murderer.  I  loved  my  wife  and  chil- 
dren when  I  let  rum  alone.  To  that  alone  I  owe  my 


202  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

ruin  and  my  crime.     I  do  not  fear  to  die,  —  there  is 
no  tie  which  binds  roe  to  earth.     If  my  poor  life  would 
restore  my  wife  and  her  children  —  my  own  good 
name,  and  our  unblighted  home,  I  should  die  happy 
May  all  beware  of  the  cause  of  my  fall." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE   GALLOWS   CHEATED   OF   A   PREY  —  THE   PEOPLE   OF    A 
SIGHT. 

LATE  in  the  night  previous  to  the  day  appointed 
for  the  execution  of  Ricks,  Minnie  Hermon  was  pass- 
ing from  the  jail  to  the  "  Home."  For  the  last  time 
she  had  stolen  to  the  cell  of  Ricks,  to  administer  a  kind 
word,  and  to  ask  forgiveness  for  her  father. 

As  she  passed  out  into  the  yard,  and  between  the 
jail  and  the  court-house,  she  was  confronted  by  a  tall 
form  standing  immovably  in  her  path.  She  was 
startled,  but  did  not  cry  out,  as  many  would  have 
done,  at  so  abrupt  a  meeting  in  the  dark.  The  intru- 
der manifested  no  disposition  to  stir  from  the  passage, 
and  remained  silent.  Minnie  mustered  firmness  to 
demand  the  cause  of  the  interruption,  and  who  it  was 
who  thus  intruded  himself  upon  a  defenceless  woman. 

"A  friend.  You  know  'Crazy  Alf.'  You  gave 
him  bread,  and  treated  him  kindly." 

"  If  you  are  a  friend,  let  me  pass,  and  you  shall 
never  want  when  you  ask  bread  again.  Do  not  de- 
tain me  here." 

"  Miss  Hermon  is  a  friend  of  the  prisoner  ?"  whis- 
pered All,  not  stirring  from  his  tracks. 

**  I  am,  and  hope  you  are,"  replied  Minnie,  now 


204  MINNIE   HERMON. 

thoroughly  alarmed,  fearing  that  her  movements  had 
been  watched  for  no  good  purpose. 

"  I  am,  —  must  not  be  hung  —  horrible  !  " 

"  What  can  you  mean  ?  " 

"  Hist  1  Speak  lower,  llicks  not  a  bad  man  — 
never  do  wrong  again  —  must  not  hang  !  " 

"  I  do  not  understand  you.  He  is  to  be  hung  to- 
morrow," and  Minnie  shuddered  at  the  word. 

'•''Must  not  hang,  I  tell  you.  Murderers  not  all 
hung  yet  —  give  him  wings  !  " 

"How?  — what?1' 

"  You  do  not  want  him  hung  —  do  no  good  —  bring 
no  dead  back.  Must  let  him  go  !  " 

"How  can  that  be?  Would  it  be  right?  "asked 
the  eager  girl. 

"Right  to  cheat  the  gallows?  —  to  cheat  rum?  — 
to  let  a  penitent  go  to  do  better  ?  "  No  more  a  mur 
derer  than  I  am!  " 

Minnie  startled  at  the  firm  energy  of  that  "  I  am." 
It  was  ground  between  the  teeth  with  a  shudder. 

"  What  can  be  done  ? "  she  timidly  asked. 

"  Take  this  to  the  prisoner  —  you  can  do  it,"  and 
he  drew  something  from  his  sleeve  and  held  it  towards 
Minnie.  She  involuntarily  reached  out  and  clasped 
some  hard  substance  wrapped  in  a  paper. 

"  God  forbid !    You  would  not  have  him  commit  — 

"No,  no.     But  he  has  iron  to  gnaw  before  he  can 

fly." 

Minnie  was  easily  convinced  that  the  ends  of  jus- 
tice would  be  just  as  well  answered  in  the  escape  of 


THE  GALLOWS  CHEATED.  205 

Kicks,  as  in  his  execution ;  for  her  woman's  heart 
shrank  from  the  latter  alternative,  and  she  turned 
back  toward  the  jail. 

The  bar-room  was  full  on  the  evening  preceding  the 
day  of  execution,  and  the  event  of  the  morrow  was 
earnestly  discussed.  Hermon  was  mellow,  and  spoke 
with  brutal  levity  of  his  duties  as  sheriff  at  the  scaf- 
fold. Rum  flowed  freely,  and  the  probable  bearing 
of  the  condemned  was  canvassed  over  jingling  glasses. 

Unnoticed  by  the  intoxicated  group,  "  Crazy  Alf " 
had  stolen  into  the  room,  and  seated  himself  in  the 
corner,  behind  the  stove,  his  eye  wearing  an  unusual 
glitter  as  he  watched  their  movements.  In  reaching 
for  wood,  Hermon  stumbled  over  the  strange  creature, 
and  recoiled  at  the  touch. 

"  Many  a  worse  fall,  yet,  Sheriff  Hermon !  —  ha  I 
ha !  "  hissed  Alf,  rising  to  his  full  height. 

"  Corne,  come,  Alf,  none  of  your  vinegar.  Let's 
be  friends,  and  take  something." 

"  Guess  I  will  —  we  must  know  each  other  better, 
eh  ?  "  and  Alf  followed  Hermon  to  the  bar.  None 
saw  the  former  turn  his  brandy  down  the  outside  of 
his  throat,  into  his  bosom,  but  rather  made  themselves 
merry  over  the  apparent  effects  of  the  liquor  upon 
the  half-crazed  sailor.  Alf  craved  more,  and  drank 
again  and  again  with  Hermon,  the  latter  glad  to  thus 
win  the  good  will  of  a  troublesome  customer.  The 
sailor  was  forward  to  display  his  money,  and  all  drank 
at  his  expense. 

Hermon  was  soon  reeling,  and  in  passing  out  of  the 


206  MINNIE  HEKMON. 

bar  to  assist  a  traveler,  he  lost  his  balance,  and  fell 
headlong. 

"  "Worse  falls  than  that,  yet,"  came  from  Alf  in  that 
peculiar,  hitter  tone,  as  Hermon  arose  to  his  feet  by 
the  aid  of  a  chair  and  the  arm  of  the  traveler.  When 
the  landlord  of  the  Home  again  looked  for  the  sailor, 
that  personage  had  gone,  and  none  had  witnessed  his 
stealthy  exit. 

"All  drunk  and  Alf  sober.  Now  for  it,  while  rum 
and  darkness  lasts,"  said  he  as  he  swiftly  glided  down 
the  street.  Creeping  under  a  long  tier  of  sheds,  after 
listening  a  moment  in  the  court-house  grounds,  he 
drew  forth  a  long,  light  ladder,  and  carried  it  across 
the  garden,  and  to  the  rear  of  the  jail.  All  was  dark 
and  still,  the  rain  now  steadily  falling,  and  the  wind 
beating  in  gusts  as  Alf  proceeded  to  carefully  raise 
his  ladder  and  rest  the  top  against  the  top  of  the 
grated  window  of  the  cell  where  Ricks  was  confined. 
At  this  juncture,  the  jealous  dog  noticed  the  move- 
ment, and  came  growling  from  the  woodshed.  Alf 
was  a  familiar  character  about  the  premises,  and  he 
called  the  dog  to  him. 

"  Hate  to  do  it,  but  men  worth  more  than  dogs," 
he  muttered,  throttling  the  unsuspecting  mastiff,  and 
cutting  his  throat  from  ear  to  ear.  When  the  dog  be- 
came still  in  his  hands,  he  dropped  him  and  cautiously 
ascended  the  ladder. 

Portions  of  the  iron  window  had  been  cut  and  left 
to  be  easily  removed,  by  Aif,  some  days  before,  and 
it  was  but  ii  moment's  work  to  lift  out  the  bars  and 


THE  GALLOWS  CHEATED.  207 

silently  tie  them  to  the  ladder  so  as  to  avoid  noise 
Lifting  the  window  by  hair's  breadths,  he  leaned  in 
and  listened  for  a  long  time.  He  had  feared  that  the 
officers  would  watch  with  the  prisoner  during  the 
night;  but  Hermon  was  drunk,  and  the  jailer  absent 
by  a  cunning  ruse.  Alf  could  hear  but  one  persoif 
breathing  in  the  cell,  and  he  ventured  to  whisper  tho 
name  of  the  prisoner. 

"  Who  calls  ?  "  slowly  answered  the  latter,  doubting 
the  evidence  of  his  hearing,  and  rousing  from  his  cot. 

"A  friend." 

"  And  why  here  ?  " 

"To  save.     Do  no  good  to  hang  !  " 

Ricks  shuddered.  The  word  entered  his  soul  like 
the  chill  of  death,  and  crept  through  every  vein,  as 
the  scaffold  and  the  crowd  loomed  distinctly  out  in 
the  darkness  of  his  cell.  To  hang !  He  closed  his 
eyes  to  shut  out  the  horrible  phantom,  but  it  was  still 
there  —  his  neighbors  staring  at  the  solemn  spectacle, 
and  the  victim,  wearing  his  own  features,  ghastly 
and  swollen,  looking  down  from  the  scaffold  in  his 
shroud  of  white. 

'•  James  Ricks !  are  you  ready  ?  "  impatiently  de 
manded  Alf,  leaning  still  farther  into  the  cell. 

"  Heady  for  what  ?  "  muttered  the  former,  confused 
and  hardly  knowing  whether  he  was  awake  or  asleep, 

"  Ready  to  leave.  Do  no  good  to  hang,  tell  ye.  Go 
off  and  be  a  better  man." 

"  I  begin    to   understand   you.     But   why   flee  ? " 

asked  the  prisoner  sadly  and  proudly.     "  I  deserve 
y 


208  MnsrsriE  HERMON. 


my  fate,  and  will  meet  it  like  a  man.  How  could  T 
escape  if  I  would!  "  Ricks  continued,  as  a  thought  of 
life  and  liberty  shot  like  lightning  to  his  heart,  and 
made  it  beat  wildly  in  his  bosom.  "  The  brand  is 
upon  me,  and  justice  would  dog  me  wherever  I  went. 
Do  not  excite  within  me  hopes  which  cannot  be  re- 
alized." 

"  Excite  no  false  hopes.  Do  no  good  to  hang,  tell 
ye  !  nobody  thank  ye  for  't.  Go  off  —  do  good,  and 
die  natral." 

Liberty  is  ever  sweet.  It  lives  and  throbs  in  every 
heart.  In  spite  of  crime,  of  sorrow,  of  bolts  and 
chains,  its  flame  lingers  in  the  human  heart,  and  kin- 
dles up  at  the  sound  of  deliverance.  The  slave  dreams 
of  it  while  at  his  task,  and  in  his  weary  slumbers. 
The  captive  watches  the  sunlight,  and  the  prison  walls 
cannot  hide  from  his  vision  the  distant  home  and  hills. 
Tyranny  cannot  crush  it  ;  iron  cannot  bind  it,  or  steel 
kill  it.  'Mid  ruin  it  smoulders.  Like  the  captive  ea- 
gle, it  beats  its  fetters  as  it  listens  to  the  wild  scream 
in  the  distance. 

Ricks  had  thought  to  meet  his  fate  with  resigna- 
tion, convinced  of  its  justice  and  necessity.  But  the 
love  of  liberty  and  life  is  sweet  and  never-dying.  At 
the  word  of  hope,  that  love  grew  wildly  strong,  and 
an  ignominious  death  upon  the  scaffold  was  dreadful. 
He  quickly  rose  upon  his  feet,  but  to  sink  again,  as 
the  sound  of  the  clanking  fetters  fell  like  lead  to  his 
heart. 

"Devils/"   hissed   Alf.     "Chains   on  yet?     Why 


THE   GALLOWS   CHEATED.  209 

didn't  you  cut  'em  —  nobody  bring  a  file  here,  eh  ?  " 
and  the  sailor  swung  like  a  cat  in  upon  the  dungeon 
floor. 

"A  friend  did  bring  something,  but  I  supposed  it  a 
knife,  and  would  not  undo  it,"  and  here  light  flashed 
into  the  mind  of  Ricks. 

"  No  knife  — file  —  should  'a  used  it." 

But  Alf  was  not  to  be  foiled.  Feeling  from  the 
staple  in  the  wall  to  the  ancle  of  the  prisoner,  he 
found  a  link  through  which  he  could  put  the  ends  of 
two  of  the  window  gratings,  and  prying  in  opposite 
directions,  the  link  was  broken  with  ease.  The  same 
process  wrenched  the  padlock  from  the  fetter,  and  the 
limbs  of  the  prisoner  were  free.  None  can  tell  the 
strange,  wild  emotions  that  stirred  the  heart,  for  he 
had  given  himself  up  to  the  hope  of  freedom,  and 
escape  from  an  ignominious  death.  Tears  fell  upon 
the  hands  of  Alf  as  the  latter  removed  the  iron  from 
the  calloused  ancle. 

Swiftly  and  cautiously  the  two  descended  the  lad- 
der, and  crossed  the  fields  to  the  river.  A  skiff  wafe 
hidden  in  the  underbrush  which  lined  the  bank,  into 
which  the  two  sprang,  and  with  a  noisele'ss  stroke,  Alf 
struck  out  for  the  opposite  shore.  An  hour's  walk 
after  landing,  took  them  several  miles  up  the  ra- 
vine, by  a  foot-path  which  led  over  the  mountains 
and  across  the  wilderness  to  Pennsylvania.  At  a  de- 
serted sugar  cabin,  a  horse  was  found  saddled  and 
fastened  in  a  dense  undergrowth. 
,  "Mount!"  whispered  Alf,  with  emphasis,  as  he 


210  MINNIE    H~ERMON. 

unhitclied  the  spirited  animal  and  led  him  before 
Ricks. 

"  But  the  horse  is  not  mine,"  said  the  latter,  yet 
proud  and  honorable  as  in  his  better  days. 

"Devil.  I  know  that ;  mine,  though.  Time  lost, 
tell  ye.  Away  !  Better  ride  than  hang  !  "  and  Alf 
seized  the  emaciated  form  of  Ricks  in  his  powerful 
grasp  and  swung  him  into  the  saddle  as  though  lie 
had  been  a  child. 

"  There  !  "  putting  the  reins  into  his  hands,  "money 
and  bread  in  bags.  Shun  daylight  and  rum.  Re- 
member Crazy  Alf  and  Minnie  Hermon  —  ply  the 
gad  !  "  and  ere  the  excited  Ricks  could  thank  his  de- 
liverer, the  latter  had  disappeared  with  rapid  strides 
down  the  dark  gorge. 

Alf  muttered  that  peculiar  chuckle  as  he  listened 
to  the  quick  ringing  of  hoofs  up  the  mountain,  and 
strode  muttering  back  to  the  place  where  he  had  left 
his  boat.  It  was  brief  work  to  replace  the  bars  in 
the  jail  window,  to  wrench  his  ladder  in  pieces  and 
cast  it  into  the  river,  and  steal  away  to  the  deserted 
hut  where  he  sometimes  found  a  shelter. 

There  was  intense  excitement  in  Oakvale  on  tie 
morning  of  the  day  appointed  for  the  execution  of 
Ricks.  On  visiting  the  cell  at  day-break,  but  the 
irons  which  were  upon  the  prisoner  remained,  and. 
no  farther  signs  which  revealed  the  manner  of  his 
escape.  By  the  appointed  hour,  more  than  five  thou- 
sand people  had  assembled.  To  the  disgrace  of  our 
common  humanity,  we  are  compelled  to  say  that  a 


THE  GALLOWS  CHEATED.  211 

largo  class  of  both  sexes  manifested  much  ill  temper 
in  their  disappointment.  The  immense  throng  at  the 
scaffold  finally  gathered  in  the  rear  of  the  jail,  as  it 
became  known  that  the  prisoner  made  his  escape  from 
the  window,  and  until  a  late  hour  discussed  the  mat- 
ter, and  gazed  at  the  gloomy  window  as  though  they 
hoped  to  see  the  prey  of  the  scaffold  still  within 
reach. 

Hermon,  intoxicated  with  excitement  and  rum, 
stormed  imprecations  upon  those  who  procured  the 
escape  ;  for  it  was  evident  from  the  tracks  to  the 
window,  that  two  persons  had  left  the  jail.  Consta- 
bles and  parties  returned  late  in  the  afternoon,  finding 
no  indication  unusual,  save  the  tracks  of  a  horse  un- 
der full  gallop,  but  headed  towards  the  river. 

Alf  had  himself  shod  the  horse  with  the  shoes  re- 
versed, and  with  a  lurking  sneer  he  walked  up  to 
where  Hermon  stood  in  the  crowd,  and  looked  him 
steadily  in  the  eye. 

"  Bird  flown,  eh  ?  Didn't  catch  him,  s'pose.  Mur- 
derers not  all  hung  yet  !  —  ha  !  ha  !  " 

Hermon  turned  away  from  that  dreaded  eye  and 
entered  the  house.  Drunkenness,  rioting  and  horse- 
racing  ended  the  day's  history. 


CHAPTEK    XIX. 

THE   WATT   FAMILY. 

IN  Rhode  Island,  many  years  ago,  there  lived  a 
wealthy  family  by  the  name  of  How  —  their  worth 
and  standing  equal  to  their  worldly  means. 

With  a  morning  sky  unclouded,  and  light  with 
hope,  the  accomplished  and  favorite  daughter  of  Major 
How  married  an  estimable  young  man  by  the  name 
of  Watt,  a  gentleman  of  high  integrity,  honor,  and 
irreproachable  private  character.  His  future  was  full 
of  promise,  and  he  took  his  young  bride  to  a  home 
of  happiness  and  affluence. 

The  customs  of  the  day  stealthily  fastened  a  love 
of  wine  in  the  system  of  young  Watt,  gathering 
strength  while  the  victim  dreamed  not  of  danger. 
Indeed  he  would  have  laughed  at  the  idea  of  danger 
to  a  man  of  his  mind  and  position.  The  current 
swept  beneath  with  a  swifter  tide,  while  he  beat  the 
waves  with  feebler  stroke.  It  was  long  before  Ber- 
tha Watt  realized  the  fall  of  her  heart's  idol.  Day 
by  day  brought  the  fearful  truth  to  her  mind,  until 
the  heart-crushing  conviction  fell  like  a  stunning  blow 
upon  her  happiness  and  hopes.  She  was  not  the  wo- 
man to  complain.  Proud  of  the  world's  opinion,  but 
meek  and  gentle,  she  suffered  alone  with  her  tears, 


BERTHA  WATT 


THE   WATT   FAMILY.  215 

"hiding  the  ragged  iron  in  her  soul.  Bertha  had  none 
of  that  sterner  stuff  in  her  nature  which  rallies  as  the 
storm  beats  down  hope  after  hope ;  but  alone  with 
her  babes,  her  shrinking  and  trusting  spirit,  as  mild 
as  the  sky  of  summer,  suffered  on.  The  young  cheek 
paled,  and  the  light  grew  dim  in  the  eye.  She  would 
not,  for  a  world,  have  spoken  to  her  high-minded  and 
sensitive  husband  of  the  dark  vice  which  already  left 
a  broad  shadow  of  coming  ill  at  their  hearth-side. 

In  their  new  home  near  Lake  George,  in  York 
State,  the  almost-despairing  wife  and  mother  hoped 
that  her  husband  would  escape  many  of  the  baneful 
influences  of  the  society  he  had  been  accustomed  to 
move  in.  The  hope  was  vain.  The  drinking  usages 
of  pioneer  life,  though  less  refined,  were  none  the 
less  general  and  fatal.  And  besides,  step  by  step, 
Watt  had  lost  much  of  his  chivalric  pride  of  charac- 
ter—  his  manhood  was  degraded.  The  crater  kin- 
dled within  him,  was  burning  out  every  sentiment 
of  his  better  nature.  He  became  familiar  with  coarse- 
ness and  vice,  gambled  without  hesitation,  and  was 
often  in  a  state  of  shameful  intoxication.  His  busi- 
ness was  neglected  and  his  temper  soured  ;  he  spent 
most  of  his  evenings  at  the  tavern,  and  when  at  home 
was  sullen  and  harsh,  or  broadly  abusive. 

Darkly  the  days  dawned  at  the  neglected  hearth, 
and  darker  still  their  evenings.  The  unkind  word 
and  constant  neglect,  were  wringing  to  agony  the 
heart's  every  fibre,  and  unseen  tears,  scalding  with 
sorrow,  were  wearing  deep  channels  in  the  pale  and 


21 G  MINNIE    HERMON. 

wasting  cheek.  The  pure  smile  and  winning  way  of 
the  babe,  or  the  witching  laughter  and  prattle  of  the 
older  children,  had  no  power  to  win  a  parent  from 
the  embrace  of  the  tempter.  Home,  and  its  circle 
was  deserted  for  the  bar-room ;  the  wife  and  her  treas- 
ures, for  the  cup  and  the  boon  companion.  The  trail 
of  all  his  ruin  was  broadly  slimed  from  the  threshold 
to  the  hearth,  and  there  Want  and  Despair  sat  amid 
the  domestic  wreck.  No  resource  of  the  mother 
could  long  keep  her  loved  ones  from  going  forth  in 
rags.  The  appeal  for  bread,  made  in  the  silvery  voice 
of  trusty  childhood,  was  answered  with  a  curse,  and 
from  the  barren  board,  the  recreant  husband  and  pa- 
rent went  forth  to  steep  his  soul  in  deeper  potations. 
The  child  that  once  crawled  upon  the  knee  and  threw 
her  light  arms  over  the  shoulders,  and  with  stainless 
lip  kissed  the  bearded  cheek,  now  shrunk  away  and 
hushed  its  half-sad  mouth  at  the  dreaded  approach. 

— •  And  thus  an  idolized  parent's  returning  tread 
was  the  herald  of  sorrow  and  tears,  and  his  darkening 
form  a  shadow  upon  every  joy  which,  like  pale  flow- 
ers, still  sprung  up  on  the  wintry  waste. 

From  carelessness  when  drunk,  the  dwelling  was 
fired,  and  the  family  driven  from  their  beds  into  the 
snow  of  a  winter's  night,  one  of  the  older  girls  leap- 
ing from  the  chamber  window  just  as  the  flaming 
roof  fell  in.  After  this  fresh  calamity,  the  family  re- 
moved to  Cherry  Yalley,  and  still  again  to  — 
county. 

In  the  haggard  and  sottish  drunkard,  none  would 


THE    WAT!     FAMILY.  217 

have  recognized  James  Watt.  He  was  ill- tempered 
and  abusive  in  the  extreme  ;  quarrelsome,  reckless 
and  profane,  and  outraged  nearly  all  the  proprieties 
of  life.  At  times,  he  would  earn  money  fast  but.  to 
spend  it  in  one  prolonged  debauch.  Not  a  penny 
ever  went  for  the  support  of  his  family. 

Mrs,  Watt  and  her  children  existed  from  day  to  day, 
no  one  knew  how.  The  children  and  herself  were  in 
rags.  Silently  and  in  secret,  for  tears  provoked  the 
harsh  word  or  blow,  she  wept  away  her  life.  With 
a  languid  step  and  a  vacant  stare,  she  moved  about, 
hoping  for  the  long  rest  of  death,  yet  dreading  to» 
leave  those  who  now  alone  bound  her  to  earth.  Late 
at  night  she  toiled,  and  the  morning  found  her  with- 
out rest.  With  a  compressed  lip,  she  bore  the  sharp 
gnawings  of  hunger,  that  her  babes  might  not  want 
for  bread,  and  still  the  moan  of  the  famished  one 
would  often  pierce  the  lacerated  heart  like  heated 
barbs.  She  was  yoked  to  a  living  corpse,  and  as  sho 
listened  to  the  snoring  of  the  drunkard  in  his  slum- 
bers and  smelled  the  stench  of  the  consuming  fires, 
she  could  look  down  into  a  once  manly  heart,  now  a 
seething  crater,  where  all  her  earlier  and  brighter 
hopes  lay  smouldering  in  charred  and  blackened  ruins. 
The  lips  it  had  been  her  pride  to  greet  were  flaming 
"with  rum  and  the  wanton's  loathsome  kiss.  As  she 
felt  new  life  throbbing  in  her  bosom,  she  locked  her 
wasted  fingers  together  and  prayed  to  die. 

—  Ill-fated  Bertha !  there  was  dark  ending  of  life's 
summer  day  after  so  light  a  morning  ! 


218  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

Summer  was  fading  into  autumn,  and  the  leaves 
were  already  falling.  Within  a  miserable  tenement. 
Bertha  Watt  was  fading  away.  Few  ever  entered 
the  pauper  dwelling,  and  with  her  children  to  watch 
her,  she  journeyed  downward  to  the  dark  valley.  A 
few  were  charitable,  and  the  family  were  saved  from 
actual  starvation.  Desolate  and  cheerless  the  room 
and  the  couch  of  the  dying  ;  more  desolate  still  the 
stricken  heart,  as  she  looked  around  upon  a  group  of 
ten,  who  were  doubly  bound  to  her  by  the  ties  of 
years  of  common  suffering.  Yet,  blessed  God  of  the 
*poor !  Hope  lit  her  torch  at  the  waning  flame  of 
life,  and  pointed  sweetly  away,  over  the  misty  realm 
of  sod  and  slab,  to  one  of  happiness  and  rest. 

As  the  sharp  wail  of  her  tears  broke  upon  the 
night's  stillness,  Bertha  Watt  lay  silent  in  death. 
The  crushed  and  broken  spirit  of  the  meek  and  in- 
jured sufferer  was  free  from  its  wasted  temple,  and 
far  out  upon  a  shoreless  sea ! 

They  said  she  died  of  consumption.  Aye,  con- 
sumption of  the  heart — its  hopes,  like  drops  of  blood 
dripping  away,  through  the  long  night  hours  of  ray- 
less  years.  Hidden  away,  and  unseen  by  the  public 
eye,  are  such  triumphs  of  the  scourge  as  these,  and 
thickly  written  in  the  history  of  its  progress,  as  are 
the  leaves  upon  the  forest  in  summer  time. 

—  And  there  is  a  place  where  the  weary  and  the 
heavy-laden  shall  find  rest ! 

A  wide  world  for  the  worse  than  orphans !  Rum 
.had  not  yet  sufficiently  ravaged  their  home.  From 


THE    WATf    FAMli,*.  219 

the  grave  of  the  wife  and  mother,  James  Watt  went 
back  to  the  bar-room,  more  abandoned  and  shameless 
than  ever.  Hum  had  burned  out  the  image  of  her 
who  stood  with  him  at  the  altar,  a  trusting  and  a  hap- 
py young  bride.  He  never  gave  his  family  a  thought. 
Penniless,  fireless,  and  breadless,  gathered  the  strick- 
en group  where  a  home  had  been.  While  the  earth 
was  still  fresh  upon  the  mother's  grave,  the  rumsell- 
ers  came  with  their  executions,  and  stripped,  under 
a  stringent  law,  the  very  bedding  which  that  mother, 
in  all  their  misfortunes,  had  retained,  as  the  gift  of  her 
girlhood's  home.  But  another  blow  came.  The  im- 
bruted  father  sold  the  cow,  and  with  the  proceeds, 
left  the  village  with  a  boon  companion,  and  squan- 
dered it  in  dissipation. 

Two  older  sisters  fought  hard  to  keep  the  family 
circle  unbroken.  The  father  returned  to  curse  them. 
They  whom  he  once  loved,  and  who  loved  him  with 
all  the  holy  intensity  of  child-love  in  return,  learned 
to  hate  him,  and  as  he  went  from  the  dwelling,  prayed 
in  hearts  fearfully  old  in  grief,  that  he  never  might 
return.  And  in  a  land  of  Christians,  James  Watt 
had  that  dealt  out  to  him  for  his  money  which  de- 
monized  his  manhood,  and  made  him  desert  and  hate 
his  own  flesh  and  blood,  and  fostered  hatred  in  re- 
turn !  Slowly  the  sacred  ties  which  bound  parent  and 
child  were  withered  and  broken,  under  the  scorching 
fires  of  the  bowl. 

Money  exhausted,  the  father  returned.  The  elder 
daughters  toiled  iu  a  factory,  its  bell  starting  them 


220  MINNIE    HERMON. 

from  feverish  slumbers,  and  its  walls  a  prison  to  their 
drooping  frames.  Every  Saturday  night,  the  father 
would  demand  the  wages  of  heart  and  brain-aching 
toil,  and  spend  the  money  for  rum  with  his  compan- 
ions on  the  Sabbath.  And  many  a  day  did  the  chil- 
dren gather  around  the  rickety  table,  with  bran  bread 
its  only  dainty,  a  jug  of  rum  upon  the  shelf,  and  a 
drunken  father  snoring  upon  the  floor. 

—  The  children,  who  had  committed  no  crime,  went 
hungry  and  ragged,  that  the  licensed  robber  might 
have  his  plenty ! 

Darker  yet  gloomed  the  sky  over  the  Watt  family. 
As  per  poor  laws  of  that  day,  the  younger  children 
were  struck  off  at  auction,  and  put  out  to  be  kept  by 
the  lowest  bidder ',  while  arrangements  were  made  to 
seize  the  others,  and  from  town  to  town  drive  them 
back  to  the  county  they  came  from.  One  child-sis- 
ter, of  four  years  —  a  sweet  child  in  rags,  whose  tiny 
hands  never  wronged  a  being  on  earth,  and  who  never 
knew  why  she  was  a  pauper  —  found  cold-hearted 
keepers,  and  in  the  winter  time,  died  in  the  entryway 
upon  rags  for  bedding,  and  covered  with  vermin,  no 
mother's  hand  leading  her  into  the  shadowy  land,  or 
sister's  kiss  warming  upon  the  chilly  lip.  The  blue 
eye,  which  had  known  little  but  tears,  turned  upward 
to  a  Christ  kinder  than  men,  and  glittered  with  frost 
in  the  clear  morning  sun. 

The  grave  lies  between  the  two  worlds.  The  win- 
ter sod  shut  the  infant  victim  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
scourge,  and  she  wept  for  bread  no  more. 


CHAPTEE    XX. 

"  MORAL   SUASION.' 


JJ 


MUCH  has  been  said  and  written,  in  the  course  of 
the  temperance  reform,  about  the  power  of  moral  sua- 
sion. There  is  a  power  in  its  tear  and  its  tone. 
With  kind  words  it  appeals  to  the  better  nature  and 
essays  to  win  back  the  fallen.  With  a  gentle  voice 
and  look  it  knocks  at  the  heart  of  the  erring  and  points 
out  a  better  way.  It  meets  the  prodigal  with  a  tear 
and  says,  "  go  and  sin  no  more."  In  a  thousand  forms 
it  finds  the  human  heart  in  its  wanderings,  and  with 
a  tear  for  its  follies,  poiots  with  a  smile  of  hope  and 
forgiveness  back  to  honor  and  truth.  The  proud 
spirit  which  would  fling  back  with  scorn  the  hatred 
of  a  world,  would  melt  and  sway  like  a  summer  leal 
at  the  gentle  whispering  of  words  of  kindness. 

Moral  suasion  has  accomplished  much  in  winning 
men  from  their  cups  —  more  than  the  penal  enact- 
ments which  drag  the  drunkard  from  a  legalized  hell, 
to  incarceration  or  fine.  It  has  saved  many  from  the 
fang  which  glitters  in  the  bubbles  on  the  breaker's 
brim.  Even  from  the  midst  of  deepest  ruin,  some 
word  or  kindly  deed  has  brought  back  the  erring  to 
virtue  and  duty.  It  is  doing  much  yet,  and  will  never 
fail  to  do  much  while  there  are  hearts  to  lovo  the 
drunkard  and  weep  over  his  ruiu. 


222  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

There  are  some  of  oni  friends  who  avow  their  readi 
iiess  to  rely  solely  upon  the  power  of  moral  suasion 
for  the  removal  of  intemperance.  It  seems  to  us  a 
Btrange  infatuation.  Prayers,  and  tears,  and  appeal- 
ing words,  against  an  evil  impregnable  in  its  citadels 
of  legislation,  and  backed  by  the  whole  force  of  the 
government !  Would  the  same  friends  content  them 
selves  with  appealing  to  the  incendiary  and  the  mur- 
derer to  spare  their  homes  and  their  lives,  and  the 
torch  and  the  knife  at  the  same  time  commissioned  to 
do  the  infernal  work,  and  the  hand  that  wielded  them 
protected  by  law  ?  What .  would  the  cold-blooded 
butcher  care  for  the  pleading  of  innocence  or  weak- 
ness, when  licensed,  for  a  price,  to  drench  the  very 
hearth  in  warm  blood  ?  And  would  the  incendiary, 
empowered  to  burn,  and  sustained  by  the  so  called 
respectable,  in  the  light  of  the  kindling  flame,  re- 
nounce the  desolating  business  which  he  had  pur- 
chased of  government  the  right  to  engage  in  ? 

God  never  designed  that  a  wicked  world  should  be 
governed  by  moral  suasion.  He  himself  has  put  on 
record  penal  enactments  against  sin — against  vice  and 
crime.  Until  human  nature  is  utterly  changed,  mor- 
al suasion,  as  a  sole-restraining  power,  will  be  impo- 
tent. All  the  blessed  influences  of  the  Gospel,  the 
influence  of  home,  friends,  virtuous  teachings,  and 
the  hopes  of  happiness  and  Heaven,  as  a  motive  pow- 
er, will  not  restrain  the  vicious.  All  men  are  not 
susceptible  of  moral  influences.  If  they  were,  the 
dust  of  oblivion  might  gather  upon  our  statutes,  and 


"  MOKA.L    SUASION."  223 

not  a  crime  should  mar  the  harmony  of  the  universal 
brotherhood  of  man. 

Those  who  deal  in  rum,  are  certainly  the  last  class 
which  should  ever  utter  a  word  about  moral  suasion, 
and  claim  that  the  temperance  reform  should  be  car- 
ried forward  upon  that  basis  alone.  We  could  smile 
at  the  coolness  of  the  idea  but  for  its  insulting  wick- 
edness. It  comes  with  a  bad  grace  in  the  teeth  of 
facts,  upon  a  record  of  more  than  twenty-five  years' 
duration.  Here  as  elsewhere,  moral  suasion  has  had 
its  effect,  and  men,  regardful  of  its  influences,  have 
yielded  to  the  light  of  truth  and  abandoned  a  wicked- 
ness. And  in  the  high  noon  of  our  reform,  those  who 
still  persist,  against  reason,  right  and  revelation,  in 
the  business,  ask  the  people  to  follow  their  direction 
in  the  matter,  and  continue  a  course  which  up  to  this 
day  they  have  utterly  disregarded ! 

With  legislation  against  it,  it  requires  the  whole 
power  of  the  temperance  reform  to  keep  its  giant  an- 
tagonist at  bay,  while  in  security  it  revels  upon  all 
which  comes  within  its  clutch.  Moral  suasion  knows 
not  a  phase  which  it  has  not  assumed  in  this  great 
work.  From  broken  altars  where  every  domestic  tie 
lay  shivered,  prayers  have  gone  up  where  there  was 
no  hope  but  of  Heaven.  Gather  them  from  the  an- 
gels' record,  and  a  tempest  of  prayers  would  swell  its 
uote  of  accusing  thunder.  An  ocean  of  tears  has 
dripped  its  bitter  way  over  cheeks  which  bloom  not 
again.  Days  and  years  have  passed  by,  until  ages  of 
sorrow  have  accumulated  in  judgment.  Wherevei 


224  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

the  victims  of  the  wrong  have  loved,  and  suffered, 
and  died  —  at  home,  in  the  alms-house,  dungeon,  or 
on  the  scaffold,  —  the  sob,  the  sorrow,  and  the  wail, 
have  appealed  to  the  authors  of  all  the  woe,  vice  and 
crime.  Mutely,  but  ah  !  how  eloquently,  the  cower- 
ing and  ragged  drunkard's  child,  and  the  pale-faced 
wife  and  mother,  Jiave  presented  to  the  dealer  his 
cruel  wickedness  and  their  bitter  wrongs  ! 

The  rumseller .  is  not  ignorant  or  deaf.  He  knows 
the  sweep  of  the  engine  in  his  hands.  He  sees  its 
effects,  and  while  his  own  neighbors,  and  kindred 
even,  are  demonized  and  imbruted  by  the  drug  from 
his  hands,  he  sends  them  home  to  wound  the  innocent 
and  the  helpless.  Every  coin  he  drops  into  his  draw- 
er, is  the  price  of  the  hunger,  nakedness  and  degrada- 
tion of  those  who  never  wronged  him  or  his.  He 
knows  the  enslaved  appetite  cannot  turn  away,  and 
he  feeds  it  to  the  death.  He  deliberately  manufac- 
tures a  kind  husband  and  father  into  a  devil,  and  a 
happy  home  into  a  hell,  where  the  victim  can  torment 
his  own  wife  and  children !  Entrenched  with  legis- 
lation and  leagued  with  unscrupulous  demagogues, 
they  have  continued  this  fearful  work  against  all  the 
efforts  of  the  tongue  and  pen.  Their  victims  have 
suffered,  and  wept,  and  died,  in  vain.  Human  and 
divine  laws  have  alike  been  trampled  upon  ;  arid  to- 
day, while  preaching  moral  suasion,  they  are  band- 
ing to  sustain  the  system  of  cruelty  and  wrong  at 
every  hazard. 

Moral  suasion!     Let  the  stricken  mother  go  pray 


"  MORAL   SUASION."  225 

upon  the  slippery  deck  of  the  pirate  when  blood  leapg 
smoking  from  the  scuppers,  .and  beg  the  life  of  her 
boy  !  Send  childhood  with  a  tear  on  its  cheek,  into 
the  den  of  the  famished  tigress,  and  with  a  silvery 
vxice  beseech  the  life  of  a  parent,  writhing  in  her  re- 
morseless fangs ! 

—  For  the  universe  of  God,  its  wealth  and  its  hon- 
ors, we  would  not,  in  the  light  of  this  day,  have  the 
guilt  of  rumselling  rest  heavy  on  our  soul. 

One  more  visit  to  the  miserable  tenement  of  Watt, 
All  that  the  law  spared  has  been  carried  off  by  Watt 
and  pawned  at  the  tavern.  The  Bible  of  the  dead 
wife,  her  only  legacy  to  her  children,  has  been  stolen 
from  the  place  where  young  Bertha  Watt  hid  it,  as  a 
priceless  treasure,  and  sacred  with  the  heart-drops 
which  had  fallen  upon  the  worn  pages,  and  sold  for 
ruin. 

Little  Bernard  Watt  lay  sick  unto  death.  With 
many  a  bitter  curse,  the  father  had  turned  from  the 
door,  as  Bertha  plead  that  her  sick  brother  might  have 
the  doctor  called,  and  left  for  the  tavern. 

And  all  within  was  hushed  and  still  —  every  foot- 
fall as  light  as  the  falling  leaf,  for  fear  of  disturb- 
ing the  sick  one.  With  hot  tears  upon  her  cheek, 
Bertha  leaned  upon  the  scanty  couch,  the  tiny  and 
feverish  hand  clasped  convulsively  within  her  own, 
as  if  to  hold  the  boy-brother  to  earth.  Though  pale 
and  fading,  the  features  were  classically  beautiful ; 
but  a  clammy  sweat  had  gathered  upon  the  white 
brow,  rich  with  the  last  kisses  of  a  dying  mother. 


226  MINNIE   HERMON. 

The  chubby  cheek  had  grown  thin  and  touchingly 
pale ;  the  eye  had  lost  its  laughter,  and  looked  lan- 
guidly upon  the  group  around  him.  The  white  teeth 
appeared  through  the  half-closed  lips,  and  the  ricn 
golden  hair  lay  back  upon  the  coarse  blanket  pillow. 
On  the  fourth  day,  as  the  sun  was  going  down  in  the 
west,  the  child  was  passing  away. 

Through  the  broken  window,  a  broad  beam  of  sun- 
shine, like  a  ray  from  bliss,  entered  and  trembled  for 
a  moment  upon  the  hair,  and  then  burst  like  a  flood 
upon  the  pale  features  of  the  child.  He  turned  his 
face  to  the  sun,  and  a  smile,  sweeter  than  the  sunlight, 
came  over  the  wasted  and  bloodless  lips.  Upon  that 
golden  pathway  the  little  one  was  smiling  back  upon 
kindred  angels  in  Heaven  ! 

"  Bertha,  do  they  always  have  sunshine  in  Heaven  ? 
—  and  will  my  little  flower  grow  there,  and  the  birds 
eing  ?  —  and  will  the  angels  you  told  me  about  last 
night  be  good  and  love  me  ?  " 

"  Mother  is  there,  —  she  will  love  you,"  replied  the 
choking  Bertha. 

"  How  I  want  to  die !  You  say  I  won't  hunger 
there,  Bertha,  and  I'll  have  clothes  so  bright,  and  al- 
ways feel  happy.  I  won't  cry.  there,  Bertha,  will  I  ?  " 

Bertha  could  not  answer  from  her  swelling  heart, 
but  the  tears  wound  their  way  down  her  cheeks,  and 
fell  like  rain-drops  upon  the  glistening  locks  of  Ber- 
nard. 

'"•Bertha!"  —  and  the  boy  looked  wildly  out  into 
the  room,  and  shut  his  sharp  thin  fingers  tightly  upon 


'*  MORAL    SUASION."  227 

her  arm,  and  in  a  whisper  continued  —  "  Father  won't 
be  there  to  whip  us  'cause  we  can't  help  crying,  will 
he  ?  Oh,  I  hope  Mr.  Hermon  won't  go  there,  to  sell 
any  ruin.  The  good  God  don't  sell  rum,  does  he? 
Why  can't  you  die,  too,  Bertha,  and  go  when  the  an- 
gels corne  after  me  ?  "  Sobs  only  answered  the  faint 
prattle  of  the  innocent. 

"  Bertha,  give  me  some  more  of  that  toast.  When  I 
get  to  Heaven  I  '11  tell  ma  how  good  Minnie  Hermon 
was  to  us."  Bertha  looked,  and  the  toast  was  gone, 
and  with  it  the  loaf  of  bread  and  the  wine  which 
Minnie  Hermon  had  brought  that  morning,  as  she 
learned  of  their  sickness  and  destitution.  The  father 
had  robbed  the  dying,  and  sold  the  loaf  for  two  drams. 
There  was  not  a  morsel  of  food  for  the  boy,  and  Ber- 
tha's heart  almost  broke  as  she  thought  how  cruel  that 
Bernard  should  die  hungry. 

" Bertha  —  I'm  going  to  sleep  —  kiss  me.  Good 
night !  Bright !  —  ma,  Bernard  com  —  ing  !  " 

The  setting  sunbeams  lingered  upon  the  palid  face 
of  the  sinless  sleeper,  as  the  whispers  fell  with  crush- 
ing; weight  into  the  hearts  of  the  little  band.  The 

O  o 

pauper  children  loved  each  other. 

The  night  of  death  had  gathered  around  the  little 
brother.  The  pilgrim  of  four  summers  had  turned 
aside  from  a  cloudy  pathway,  and  passed  directly  to 
Heaven.  He  who  loved  such,  led  the  gentle  spirit 
through  the  shadows  of  the  dark  valley. 

Even  in  that  curtairiless,  carpetless  room,  there 
were  gentle  footsteps  in  the  depths  of  the  night, 


MINNIE    Hft&MDlf. 

where  lay  the  un watched  and  un shrouded  dead 
Convulsive  sobbing,  and  many  a  flood  of  tears,  and 
close  and  warm  were  the  kisses  which  clustered  upon 
the  chill  and  unanswering  lips  of  all  that  remained  of 
Bernard  Watt. 

Early  one  morning  Hermon  met  Minnie  upon  the 
hall  steps,  with  her  work  basket  in  hand  and  hood  on. 
He  had,  by  dissipation,  become  utterly  insensible  to 
shame,  and  at  times  ill-tempered  towards  all.  As  he 
became  degraded  by  his  own  habits  and  avocation, 
and  blackened  with  guilt,  he  was  bitter  and  revenge- 
ful. The  consuming  wreck  of  his  nobler  nature  kin- 
dled into  intenser  flame  all  that  was  mean  and  base. 
He  'had  just  received  one  of  the  stinging  shots  of 
Doctor  Howard,  in  relation  to  his  treatment  of  tho 
Watt  family,  and  was  much  exasperated. 

"  Who  now  have  you  taken  to  support  ? "  he  angri- 
ly demanded  of  Minnie. 

"  No  one,  father." 

"  But  where  are  you  gong? " 

"To  Watt's." 

•'•*  D n  the  Watts!  I  Ye  heard  enough  about 

the  paupers,"  he  retorted,  snatching  the  basket  from 
her  hand,  the  contents  falling  upon  the  steps. 

"  What  now !  —  clothing,  too,  eh  ?  A  fine  pass,  if 
I've  got  to  clothe  and  feed  all  the  paupers  in  the 
country." 

"  Clothing  for  the  dead,  father  ;  this  is  a  shroud  foi 
little  Bernard  Watt,  He 's  dead  !  " 


"MORAL  SUASION."  229 

"Pity  they  wan't  all  dead!"  muttered  the  thor- 
oughly brutal  dealer,  as  he  turned  away. 

Unseen  by  Minnie,  Bertha  Watt  had  entered  the 
"Home"  from  the  other  street,  and  met  Hermon  as 
he  left  his  daughter  in  the  hall.  Watt  had  taken  a 
ham  which  Doctor  Howard  had  sent  to  the  children, 
and  upon  the  pawn-money  was  deadly  drunk  in  the 
bar-room.  Boiled  turnips  and  salt,  without  bread  — 
without  anything  else — had  constituted  their  break- 
fast. From  the  table,  Bertha,  with  but  a  thin  hand- 
kerchief upon  her  head,  her  heart  running  over  with 
injuries  inflicted,  started  for  the  "  Home." 

As  Hermon  entered  his  bar-room,  he  started  at  the 
thread-bare  and  shivering  apparition  before  him. 
Bertha  caught  him  by  the  hand,  and  poured  into  his 
ear  a  tale  which  a  damned  one  would  dread  to  hear 
• —  a  tale  of  grief,  hunger,  cold,  neglect  and  abuse. 
She  knelt  before  the  man  and  wet  his  hand,  in  spite 
of  himself,  with  scalding  tears,  as  she  besought  him 
for  her  mother's  Bible,  and  that  he  would  not  sell  her 
father  rum.  With  an  eloquence  which  is  only  wo- 
man's under  similar  circumstances,  she  told  the  his- 
tory of  cruelty  in  a  drunkard's  home. 

"  Don't  come  here  te  blubber,  bold  Miss.  This  is 
no  place  for  woman.  Better  tend  to  your  own 
business,  and  go  to  work  instead  of  begging  round  the 
neighborhood.  Your  father  can  take  care  of  himself. 
Better  leave,  I  say,"  and  Hermon  put  his  hand  rude- 
ly upon  the  shoulder  of  the  girl,  and  crowded  her 
towards  the  door 


230  MINNIE    HERMCN. 

"That's  (hie)  —  right,  Miz-zer  Hermon,  turn  the 
(hie)  —  hussy  out,  by !  "  hiccoughed  the  shame- 
less father,  as  he  managed  to  rise  from  his  chair,  and 
tli  rust  his  hands  into  his  torn  pockets. 

As  Bertha  stepped  over  the  threshold  upon  the 
steps,  slippery  with  frost,  Hermon  passionately  slam- 
med the  door  together.  Striking  her  feet  as  she  lin- 
gered, they  were  knocked  from  under  her,  and  she 
fell  quickly  and  heavily  at  full  length  upon  the  stones, 
shivered  as  the  limbs  extended,  and  lay  still,  the  blood 
running  freely  from  the  nose  and  open  mouth  upon 
the  step. 

"  God  Almighty's  curse  upon  ye,  murderer  of  the 
innocent,  and  robber  of  men !  The  gibbet  would 
scorn  such  carrion,  and  hell  vomit  you  from  its  bow- 
els, John  Hermon !  "  literally  howled  Crazy  Alt'  be- 
tween his  fiercely  set  teeth,  as  he  bounded  over  the 
prostrate  body,  and  planted  a  crushing  blow  under 
the  ear  of  the  now  sobered  landlord,  which  would 
have  felled  a  trio  of  such  men.  "  Strike  a  woman, 
you  cowardly  savage  ! "  he  hissed,  and  ground  his 
heel  into  the  face  of  the  prostrate  wretch. 

Alf  had  seen  her  fall,  and  supposing  that  Hermon 
had  struck  her,  his  half-maniac  nature  boiled  at  the 
act. 

"  Murderers  not  all  hung  yet !  "  he  muttered,  as  ho 
glanced  upon  the  landlord ;  then  taking  Bertha  in 
his  arms,  he  carried  her  to  Doctor  Howard's. 

Minnie  made  another  shroud,  and  another  grave 
was  dug  in  potter's  field.  Bertha  was  with  little  Ber- 


"MORAL  SUASION."  231 

nard  at  rest.  The  door  of  Heaven  was  not  shut 
against  them,  or  the  prayer  answered  with  a  curse. 

The  Watt  family  were  scattered.  Their  graves  are 
wide  apart  in  this  land  to-day.  Three  years  ago,  in 

county,  James  Watt  died  a  pauper  by  the 

roadside,  and  at  the  public  expense  was  buried  in 
potter's  field. 

—  The  Pilgrim  blood  of  the  Watt  family,  freighted 
with  bitter  memories,  beats  in  living  hearts,  who  with 
prayers  of  hope  and  faith  await  the  day  when  a  right- 
eous enactment  shall  crush  the  evil  which  scourged 
them,  and  avenge  their  wrongs. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 

A    BEACON    ON    THE    WASTE. 

will  not  —  could  not,  detail  the  fearful  history 
cf  the  ravages  of  rum  in  Oakvale.  The  serpent  had 
slimed  every  threshold,  and  lay  coiled  upon  nearly 
every  hearth.  Pauperism,  Yice  and  Crime  stalked 
hand  in  hand,  and  the  alrnshouse  and  jail  swarmed 
with  human  wrecks.  Fortunes,  rank  and  standing  had 
drifted  into  these  receptacles,  yet  the  storm  swept  on, 
with  not  a  star  of  hope  in  the  sky  —  all  dark,  cheer- 
less, desolating. 

The  wildest  dreams  of  fiction  would  prove  tame  in 
comparison.  Tragedies  more  fearfully  startling  than 
Avon's  bard  ever  traced,  had  often  occurred.  Scenes 
which  would  mock  to  scorn  the  artist's  pencil,  were 
of  daily  occurrence.  The  home  where  a  heart  deso- 
lated clings  to  and  weeps  over  the  wrecks  of  its  youth- 
idol  ;  the  child-group  shivering  in  the  cold,  or  cling- 
ing to  a  mother  and  asking  for  bread ;  the  orphan 
turned  out  into  the  world  with  no  friend  but  God ; 
Youth  wrecked  and  palsied  with  premature  age ;  Man- 
hood reeling  amid  the  ruins  of  moral  and  intellectual 
beauty,  where  a  thousand  hopes  are  buried  ;  Genius 
crunibling  in  ruins  and  driveling  in  idiocy ;  the  vir- 
tuous and  high-minded  turning  away  from  truth  and 
honor,  and  plunging  into  every  vjce  ;  the  parent  and 


A    BEACON    ON   THE    WASTE.  233 

citizen  wandering  away  from  a  home-heaven  through 
a  dark  pilgrimage  to  a  dishonored  grave  ;  hearthside 
altars  cast  down,  and  the  home  transformed  into  a 
hell ;  Childhood  and  Innocence  thrust  out  from  the 
love-light  of  a  mother's  eye,  to  wallow  in  all  that's 
low  and  vile ;  Poverty  and  Want  looking  with  pinched 
and  piteous  gaze  upon  the  scanty  tribute  of  Charity, 
as  Hunger  drove  them  out  in  their  rags  ;  foul  and  fes- 
tering Vice,  with  bloated  and  sickly  features,  leering 
and  driveling  in  leprous  bestiality ;  Madness,  with 
fiery  eye  and  haggard  mien,  weeping,  and  wailing, 
and  cursing  in  the  rayless  night  of  intellectual  chaos  ; 
Murder  with  its  infernal  ha !  ha !  as  with  dripping 
blade,  and  smoking  in  hot  blood,  stalked  forth  from 
butchery  ; — these  and  ten  thousand  other  combina- 
tions of  warp  and  woof  with  rum  and  skill,  would 
weave  a  fibre  of  terrific  intensity  and  power.  The 
hovel,  the  dram'shop,  the  subterranean  den,  and  the 
mansion  of  fashion  and  wealth,  furnished  their  chap- 
ters of  revolting  history.  The  weird  creations  of 
history  would  be  faint  copies  of  what  transpired 
in  Oakvale.  Religion  mourned  over  the  broad  in- 
roads upon  her  heritage,  for  from  the  desk  and  the 
bosom  of  the  church  of  Christ,  souls  were  dragged 

3  OO 

a  pray.  Patriotism  turned  aghast  at  the  sweeping  de- 
struction of  the  staunch  citizen  and  the  most  gifted 
statesman.  Humanity  wept  over  the  desolations. 
Still,  men  lay  down  and  rotted  while  they  died  ;  for 
no  brazen  serpent  had  been  lifted.  There  was  one 

dead  in  every  house,  and  still  tfcie  Angel  of  the  Plague 
10 


234  MINNIE    EERMON 

commissioned  by  human  power,  continued   to  feast 
upon  death  in  its  aceldamas  of  blood. 

A  few  of  the  more  striking  events  may  be  mention 
ed  in  passing.  Leonard  Bascomb,  a  young  man  of 
twenty,  carried  his  jug  into  the  woods.  A  brother, 
in  going  after  wood  at  night,  drove  the  sled  against 
him,  and  rolled  the  dead  body  out  of  the  snow  which 
had  covered  it,  the  jug  clenched  firmly  in  the  stiffened 
fingers.  The  corpse  was  carried  to  a  deserted  cabin, 
where  the  jury  of  inquest  drinked  from  the  dead  man's 
jug  before  any  testimony  was  taken ! 

Little  Willie  Warner  went  from  Hermon's  with  his 
father's  jug,  and  froze  by  the  wayside.  The  next 
morning  the  remains  of  the  Warner  family  were  found 
amid  the  smoking  timbers  of  the  burned  dwelling. 
By  the  headless  and  limbless  trunk  of  the  mother,  the 
white  bones  of  the  babe  glared  in  the  blackened  ruins. 
None  but  God  knew  whether  butchery  was  not  there 
hidden  in  the  ruins,  and  its  blood  licked  up  by  the 
flames. 

An  old  and  once  respectable  citizen  returned  home 
late  at  night,  and  in  his  rage  turned  his  wife  and 
babe  out  into  the  storm,  and  after  first  burying  the 
axe  in  the  head  of  one  of  the  sleeping  boys,  cast  the 
body  upon  the  fire.  The  older  boy  jumped  from  tho 
window,  the  axe  severing  his  hand  as  he  sprang  to  the 
ground.  The  mother  was  found  dead,  nearly  naked, 
and  the  clothing  wrapped  around  her  child,  her  hair 
frozen  to  the  cheek  of  the  babe  with  tears  and  sleet. 

The  West  family,  mother  and  three  children,  were 


A  BEACON  ON  THE  WASTE.  235 

frozen  in  one  of  the  severest  stoims  of  the  season 
The  husband  had  been  sent  to  purchase  medicine,  but 
drank,  then  gambled,  and  for  three  days  lay  at  the 
house  in  bestial  intoxication.  The  wife  was  found 
upon  her  knees,  her  hands  tightly  clasped,  and  a  tear- 
drop frozen  upon  the  icy  cheek ;  the  babe  before  her 
on  the  floor,  its  fingers  standing  out  from  each  other, 
and  the  two  older  children  locked  together  in  their 
crib,  as  if  to  keep  each  other  warm.  George  West 
became  sober,  but  to  learn  the  extent  of  his  wicked- 
ness, and  to  live  on  helplessly  insane.  For  years  he  lin- 
gered in  the  asylum,  and  called  piteously  for  his  wife 
and  children. 

—  But  it  is  painful  to  linger  over  so  extended  and 
dark  a  record. 

About  this  time,  the  news  came  that  temperance 
societies  were  forming  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  State. 
It  was  received  with  a  laugh  of  scorn  by  some,  and 
astonishment  by  all.  As  the  object  became  known 
and  the  pledge,  the  astonishment  was  greater  still 
Pledged  to  abstain  from  even  the  moderate  use  of  al- 
coholic drinks !  It  was  the  very  essence  of  fanati- 
cism !  So  radical  an  inroad  upon  the  good  old  cus- 
toms of  the  times,  was  truly  startling — 'twas  outra- 
geous. What  was  the  world  coining  to!  What  could 
people  do  without  ardent  spirits  ?  They  could  not 
withstand  hard  work,  grief,  heat,  cold,  or  wet.  Men 
must  be  crazy  to  think  of  such  a  thing.  Temperance 
was  a  good  thing,  but  this  was  going  altogether  toe 
far,  and  the  people  would  not  stand  it.  Some  were 


236  MTNNIE  HEKMON. 

wiser  than  the  c  raimon  bar-room  rabble,  and  saw  in 
the  new  movement  only  a  scheme  of  priests  for  the 
union  of  church  and  state.  Good  citizens  were  im- 
peratively bound  to  frown  upon  the  mad  scheme  of 
designing  men. 

In  due  time  a  temperance  meeting  was  announced 
for  Oakvale.  The  churches  were  closed  against  the 
agent,  and  after  much  wrangling,  the  school-house 
was  selected  for  the  occasion. 

Such  a  commotion  in  Oakvale  !  The  rumsellers, 
old  Hermon  conspicuous  among  them,  felt  outraged  — 
indignant  at  so  disgraceful  a  proceeding.  They  were 
as  much  friends  of  temperance  as  anybody,  but  this 
priest-craft,  speculation,  and  union  of  church  and 
state  —  why,  such  men  ought  to  be  rode  out  of  town. 
Groups  discussed  the  momentous  question  every  night 
until  the  meeting,  and  the  tipplers  hiccoughed 
amen. 

The  afternoon  came,  nearly  every  drunkard's  w:te, 
some  of  the  middle  class  of  women,  a  few  of  the  bet- 
ter citizens,  and  the  rumsellers  and  tipplers,  were  all 
that  attended.  Many  of  the  wealthier  class  did  not 
deem  the  matter  of  the  least  consequence,  and  paid 
no  attention  to  it.  None  of  the  clergymen  were  pres- 
ent. The  old  soaks  looked  knowingly,  and  winked  at 
one  another  with  mock  gravity.  The  dealers  sneered 
upon  the  whole  transaction,  and  felt  sure  of  looking 
down  the  hot-headed  affair.  Crazy  Alf  sat  with  hia 
chin  in  his  palms,  as  usual,  and  behind  him,  old  Bar- 
ney Kits.  The  rumsellers  were  flanked  by  their 


A   BEACON    ON   THE   WASTE.  237 

best  customers,  not  omitting  Counselor  Skillot,  of  pu 
ritanic  phiz. 

The  speaker  was  a  clergyman,  of  medium  height, 
slightly  gray,  benevolent  countenance,  and  great  good 
humor.  As  calm  as  a  summer's  morning,  he  arose, 
and  in  a  familiar  and  unassuming  manner,  introduced 
his  subject.  He  told  no  anecdotes,  —  made  no  start- 
ling appeals  ;  but  in  a  plain,  common-sense  manner 
detailed  what  all  knew  to  be  facts.  He  dwelt  upon 
intemperance,  its  desolations  in  the  domestic  circle, 
its  annual  destruction  of  drunkards,  its  direct  agency 
in  producing  pauperism  and  crime,  and  in  increasing 
taxation,  and  showed  the  necessity  of  doing  something 
to  arrest  the  growing  evil.  All  classes  would  see  the 
necessity  of  such  a  step,  for  nearly  all  had  been  in- 
jured by  its  ravages.  The  pledge  was  proposed  as  the 
instrument  of  the  measure,  concentrating  and  har- 
monizing action,  and  bringing  the  friends  of  the  meas- 
ure upon  a  common  platform, where  their  influence 
would  be  more  efficient.  It  was  a  fraternal  bond.  It 
had  been  objected  that  men  who  took  it  would  sign 
away  their  liberties.  What  liberties  ?  The  liberty 
to  use  that  which  produced  individual  degradation 
and  family  ruin?  Which  destroyed  industry  and 
brought  beggary  in  its  train?  To  be  sure,  all  who 
drink  do  not  die  drunkards.  But  from  drinkers 
comes  the  vast  array  of  drunkards  who  go  down  to 
premature  graves.  Here*  is  a  safer  path.  None 
who  go  this  way,  are  in  danger.  None  who  go  the 
other,  are  safe.  It  was  not  expected  that  the  drunk- 


•238  MINNIE    I1ERMON. 


could  be  saved.  They  were  bound  by  an  appe- 
tite which  could  not  be  controlled.  Those  who  were 
not  yet  slaves,  ought  to  turn  away  from  the  tempta- 
tions of  the  cup.  Those  who  Lad  not  yet  formed  an 
appetite,  ought  certainly  to  give  their  names  and 
their  influence  to  save  the  youth  of  the  land  from 
destruction.  The  pledge  was  merely  an  expression 
of  sentiment  in  union  as  touching  one  object,  com- 
mitting those  who  signed  it  against  the  prevalent 
evils  of  intemperance.  Society  was  a  pledge  —  gov- 
ernment was  a  pledge  —  the  church  was  a  pledge. 
But  it  was  said  that  the  signing  of  a  pledge  was  an 
acknowledgment  of  weakness  —  of  danger  from  in- 
temperance. It  was  but  an  expression  of  opinion 
publicly  made,  a  solemn  giving  of  name  and  influ- 
ence to  a  certain  object.  It  was  said  that  men  did 
not  need  a  pledge.  The  pledge  makes  a  resolution 
stronger,  and  brings  those  of  similar  views  in  closer 
union.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  was  a 
pledge.  Those  who  staked  life,  fortune,  and  honor, 
in  signing  it,  did  not  deem  the  act  any  impeachment 
of  their  patriotism  or  of  their  strength  of  attachment 
to  the  principles  of  liberty.  It  was  the  great  anchor 
of  freedom,  thrown  out  in  the  storm,  and  held  indis- 
solubly  together,  while  giving  them  strength  and  in- 
fluence to  contend  with  England.  The  speaker  con- 
cluded by  an  earnest  appeal  to  all  good  citizens  to 
come  forward  in  the  work,  and  presented  for  the  ac- 
tion of  the  meeting,  the  pledge,  constitution,  and  form 
of  organization.  After  a  few  moments'  silence,  Her- 


A  BEACON  ON  THE  WASTE.  239 

jnon  moved  that  Counselor  Skillot  be  the  president 
of  the  new  temperance  society.  In  good  faith,  the 
speaker  put  the  question,  and  it  was  adopted  amid 
the  tittering  of  llermon's  crew.  Doctor  Howard, 
from  the  first,  had  seen  the  truth  and  the  necessity  of 
the  very  measure  proposed,  and  eagerly  entered  into 
the  plan,  determined  to  follow  Hermon  with  some- 
thing more  than  child's  play,  and  immediately  nomi- 
nated AYalter  Brayton  as  secretary.  The  motion  was 
carried,  putting  a  more  serious  aspect  upon  the  affair. 
Treating  the  matter  seriously  riled  Hermon,  and,  for 
the  purpose  of  insulting  Brayton,  Howard,  and  the 
movement,  he  nominated  Crazy  Alf  as  a  committee  on 
resolutions.  A  few  tittered,  but  the  most  of  them 
anticipated  trouble  for  the  aggressor.  Alf  raised 
to  his  full  height,  and  leveling  his  long  finger  at 
Hermon,  and  hissing  between  his  clenched  teeth, 
retorted : 

"  And  Crazy  Alf  moves,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  Mr. 
Hermou  be  a  committee  to  look  after  drunkard's 
wives  and  children,  and  report  number  and  condition 
to  the  next  meeting !  " 

The  thrust  went  to  the  red,  and  Hermon  belched 
out : 

"  Turn  out  the  drunken  vagabond.  I  did  n't  come 
here  to  be  insulted." 

"I'm  not  in  your  bar-room,  sir,"  continued  Alt', 
walking  towards  Hermon  ;  "  nor  am  I  drunker  than 
the  man  I  bought  my  liquor  of." 

Hermon  drew  his  fist  menacingly,  but  quailed  as 


240  MINNIE    HERMON. 

he  looked  into  the  glittering  eye  and  upon  the  hugo 
proportions  of  his  antagonist. 

"  Stop  to  measure  when  you  strike  men,  eh ! "  con- 
tinued Alf,  as  he  surmised  the  thoughts  of  the  land- 
lord. "  'T  wan't  so  with  —  ha,  ha  !  —  with  Bertha 
Watt !  " 

The  barb  went  to  the  feather,  and  was  sped  by  the 
hand  of  a  customer.  Skillott  wanted  to  know  if 
gentlemen  who  came  here  were  to  be  abused  by 
drunken  men,  and  Hermon,  muttering  curses,  indig- 
nantly left  the  house.  His  friends  finally  left,  one 
after  another,  and  the  remaining  people  proceeded 
with  the  organization.  You  can  see,  quietly  remark- 
ed the  speaker,  that  Satan's  kingdom  is  divided 
against  itself  and  must  fall.  Whereupon  Deacon 
McGarr,  with  an  air  of  holy  horror,  also  left.  Skillott 
sat  uneasy, but  wished  to  see  the  end  of  the  meeting. 
He  declined  signing  the  pledge  when  it  came  round 
—  he  was  not  exactly  prepared  to  give  an  opinion 
upon  the  matter,  and  he  stroked  his  chin,  and  looked 
uncommonly  candid  and  wise.  The  pledge  had  pas- 
sed, when  what  was  the  surprise  of  those  present  to 
see  Alf  step  boldly  forward  and  append  his  name  to 
the  pledge  —  "  Crazy  Alf." 

Skillott,  at  the  close  of  the  meeting,  went  immedi- 
ately to  the  tavern,  where  the  tipplers  and  some  of 
the  neighboring  magnates  were  busily  discussing  the 
temperance  meeting.  The  would-be  demagogue  here 
appeared  in  his  true  colors,  and  in  low  and  vulgar 
slang  heaped  abuse  upon  the  movement.  Hermou 


A   BEACON    ON    THE    WASTE.  243 

declared  it  was  all  got  up  by  Howard  and  Brayton 
to  injure  him,  and  as  for  Alf,  he  should  never  have 
any  more  liquor  at  his  bar. 

"  "Without  the  money,"  put  in  old  Barney. 

"  Shut  up,  you  old  devil !  "  snapped  Hermon,  "  or 
I  '11  start  your  drunken  carcass  forthwith."  Barney 
loved  rum,  and  smothered  the  cutting  reply  that  carno 
to  his  tongue's  end. 

"  Let  'em  come  here  to  get  me  to  sign  the  pledge," 
sneered  Hermon,  as  he  resumed  his  conversation  with 
Skillott.  "  But  what  '11  you  do  ? " 

"  O  !  let  me  alone  for  that.  I  '11  write  'em  a  letter 
declining  the  honor  —  ha,  ha !  and  tell  'em  a  thing 
or  two.  I  only  wanted  to  see  which  way  the  cat 
jumped." 

That  was  a  capital  idea,  and  the  company  drank 
around,  Hermon  getting  in  better  humor  and  treating 
old  Barney. 

A  committee  had  been  appointed  at  the  meeting  to 
obtain  signatures  to  the  pledge.  Doctor  Howard  was 
one  of  the  committee  and  boldly  offered  the  paper  to 
all.  Hermon  and  the  brother  grog-sellers  were  al- 
ready friends  of  temperance  men,  but  these  fanatics 
were  making  altogether  too  much  fuss — going  too 
far.  Better  mind  their  own  business.  He  had  as 
good  a  right  to  sell  liquor  as  the  Doctor  had  tc  sell 
medicine.  It  was  his  business  to  get  an  honest- living, 
and  tend  to  his  own  concerns.  If  his  neighbors  want- 
ed to  combine  against  him,  they  could  work  at  it. 
He  had  done  a  good  deal  for  the  place,  and  did  not 


242  MINNIE    HKKMON. 

expect  to  be  abused  because  he  was  trying  to  accom- 
modate the  public  and  support  his  family. 

"  By  robbing  other  families  !  "  put  in  Alf,  who  had 
come  up  unobserved.  Hermon  wanted  no  more  en- 
counters with  that  personage,  and  turned  into  hia 
bar 

Drunkards  would  not  sign  the  pledge  —  it  was 
signing  away  their  liberties  —  glorious  privileges  their 
fathers  fought  for,  while  the  better  class,  so  called, 
looked  over  the  list  of  names  with  undisguised  con- 
tempt. They  would  not  be  found  in  such  company. 
It  was  well  enough  for  drunkards  and  women,  but 
too  vulgar  for  their  countenance.  Even  the  sister  of 
George  West  turned  up  her  nose  as  Minnie  Hermon 
asked  her  name.  Let  weak  minds  take  the  pledge, 
for  her  part  she  should  be  ashamed  if  she  thought 
there  was  any  need  of  her  signing  it.  Others  tittered 
as  they  saw  the  name  of  Alf,  and  of  some  poor  women 
in  the  neighborhood.  Howard  was  often  discouraged, 
but  believed  himself  right,  and  had  the  moral  cour- 
age to  stand  by  it. 

Many  were  the  sharp  and  witty  sayings  about  the 
"  cold-water "  scheme.  There  were  merry  times  in 
the  bar-rooms,  but  many  looked  thoughtful  as  some 
worthy  citizens  gave  their  names  to  the  move.  Alf 
stood  by  his  pledge,  and  became  a  theme  of  remark, 
especially  as  he  waged  an  incessant  and  bitter  war 
upon  the  rummies,  and  drew  oif  some  two  or  three 
of  the  hardest  customers.  Many  a  plan  was  laid  to 
get  the  renegades  to  drink  again. 


A     BEACON     ON     TIIK     WASTE.  243 

—  Slowly  and  dimly  the  star  of  the  reform  went 
up.  From  the  pulpit  and  the  church  it  met  with  op- 
position. But  in  desolate  homes,  and  with  a  rumsel- 
ler's  daughter,  it  found  hearts  which  watched  its 
early  dawning  with  earnest  hope. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

BREAKING   GROUND   AGAIN. 

THE  old  pledge  was  the  entering  wedge  of  the  tem- 
perance revolution.  It  was  an  untried  experiment — 
the  commencement  of  a  great  work.  More  could  not 
have  been  achieved  at  the  time.  It  was  the  first  dis- 
tant and  rudely  constructed  parallel  before  the  over- 
shadowing fortress  of  the  monster  iniquity.  It  was 
but  the  faint  bugle  blast  upon  the  stillness  of  the 
slumbering  dead,  and  few  were  the  friends  who 
aroused  to  the  unequal  strife.  It  but  heralded  in 
feeble  foreshado wings  the  coming  of  a  brighter  day. 
It  performed  its  work,  but  scarcely  left  a  mark  upon 
the  enemy.  The  tenderly  feathered  missiles  fell  short 
of  the  mark,  harmless  and  inefficient,  in  effecting  the 
final  object. 

Deacon  McGarr  found  no  trouble  in  adhering  to 
the  pledge.  He  drank  with  the  drinkers,  yet  pre- 
served it  inviolate.  While  the  ragged  bloat  at  his 
elbows  swallowed  his  raw  grog,  the  Deacon  sipped 
his  wine,  and  descanted  eloquently  upon  the  virtues 
and  duties  of  temperance.  He  faithfully  warned  them 
of  the  danger  of  such  habits — the  good  temperance 
man  !  Many  were  the  nights  he  went  home  from  the 
tavern  heavy-laden  with  the  beverage,  and  then  ad- 


BREAKING  GROUND  AGAIN.  245 

ded  the  usual  mug  of  hard  cider  before  retiring  to  his 
deep  and  peculiar  slumbers. 

Early  in  the  winter,  McGarr  and  Barney  Kita 
started  for  home  one  night,  and  as  neighbors,  became 
more  than  usually  friendly  as  they  assisted  each  other 
arm  in  arm.  It  would  have  puzzled  an  observer  !o 
have  determined  which  was  the  drunk  one.  Striking 
a  drift  in  the  path,  McGarr  stumbled,  and  breaking 
loose,  the  two  parted,  the  Deacon  falling  on  his  face 
in  one  direction,  and  Barney  backwards  in  another, 
into  the  drift  to  the  arms,  in  a  sitting  position. 
McGarr  was  soon  upon  his  hands  and  knees,  grunting 
with  his  exertions  to  rise,  and  spitting  the  feathery 
snow  from  his  mouth.  He  partially  succeeded  in 
rising,  but  stepping  upon  Barney's  jug,  it  rolled  from 
under  him,  and  down  he  went,  this  time  in  a  sitting 
posture,  the  snow  gushing  up  like  spray  as  he  settled 
to  the  crust.  It  was  in  vain  to  try  to  raise  square- 
ly up. 

"  Barney,  my  f-friend ;  why  the  d-dogs  don't  you 
Chic) — help  a — where  1)6  you,  J3-arney?" 

"  Halloo,  Deacon !  you  th-there  ? " 

"  No  ;  I'  m  here." 

"  So  be  B-arney, 

1  An'  that  —  that  f— fast  anchor'd  hi  -  hile, 
And  they  do  —  (hie)  roll '  — 

You — you  there  yet,  Deacon  ?     Where's  my  j-uyf  " 
"  No,  I  'm  here.     Your  —  your  jug,  Barney,  hae — 
has  (hie)  throwed  me  down." 


246  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

''  Me  too,  many  a-a  time." 

"  Barney !  you  o-ought  not  to  (hie)  drink  so,  yon 
—  had  n't.  Barney,  help  me  —  up.  This  cus  —  thig 
con-f— ounded  crick  in  my  (hie)  back,  h-olds  me 
down,  B-arney." 

u  The  creek  went  d-own  your  throat,  I  guess,"  re- 
plied the  ever  witty  Kits. 

"  My  friend,  I —  I'm  Deacon  Mc-McGarr.  You 
should  speak  properly  —  you  should." 

"  And  I  'm  Barny  Kits.  I  re-re — I  regret  to  see  a 
deacon  so-so  spiritually  inclined." 

"  I  am  lame,  Barney  ;  assist  me  if  you  p— lease," 
and  McGarr  wallowed  over  within  reach  of  Barney. 

"  Lift,  McGarr  !  now  he—ho-heave  !  " 

Barney  had  crawled  up  to  McGarr  and  caught 
awkwardly  into  the  skirts  of  his  coat,  and  was  lifting 
as  awkwardly,  managing  in  the  operation  to  pull  the 
coat  over  McGarr's  head  and  wrongside  out.  At  the 
same  time  McGarr  had  fastened  one  hand  into  the 
seat  of  his  pantaloons,  and  the  other  into  Barney's 
shirt  bosom,  and  was  tugging  and  blowing  industri- 
ously to  raise  himself  upon  his  feet.  At  last  they 
both  managed  to  get  upon  their  knees,  and  their  arms 
around  each  other's  neck,  and  leaning  hard  upon  each 
other,  trying  to  rise,  McGarr  lurched  and  both  fell 
sideways  into  the  snow.  Here  they  were  sprawling 
and  clinging  to  each  other  as  Doctor  Howard  drove 
nearly  upon  them  with  his  horse  and  cutter.  With 
considerable  effort  he  lumbered  them  into  the  cutter 
and  drove  back  to  the  tavern.  As  they  were  aided 


BREAKING  GROUND  AGAIN.  247 

into  die  bar-room.  Deacon  HcGarr  felt  that  he  mu-t 
say  something  about  Barney's  drinking.  The  latter. 
as  he  came  to  the  fire,  hud  lopped  helplessly  down 
upon  the  floor. 

"What  a  (hie)  —  a  sad  sight  to — s-ee  a  man  in 
such  a  sit-sit-sittyation,  Doctor  How-ard  ! " 

So  it  was  !  But  Barney  was  no  drunker  than  the 
Deacon,  yet  the  latter  had  violated  no  pledge,  and 
was  a  temperance  man  in  good  standing. 

Our  readers  will  see  the  working  of  the  old  pledge. 
The  appeal  to  the  bloated  customer  of  the  dramshop 
fell  with  pointless  effect  from  lips  fuming  with  wine. 
The  effects  of  wine  and  common  whisky  were  the 
same.  They  both  produced  drunkenness.  Day  by 
day  and  step  by  step  the  wine  drinker  went  down- 
ward, until  he  became  a  common  drunkard  and  an 
outcast,  yet  violated  no  pledge  until  he  commenced 
upon  "  ardent  or  distilled  spirits  !  " 

The  history  of  those  who  attempted  to  reform  under 
the  old  pledge,  is  a  sad  one.  In  a  milder  garb  the 
enemy  lurked  in  the  wine  cup,  and  the  still  bound  vic- 
tim went  back  to  ruin.  The  demon  glittered  in  the 
first  drop.  The  light  of  the  wine  bubble  would  kin- 
dle into  intensity  the  fires  deepest  smouldering  in  the 
crater.  The  milder  drink  was  the  sure  precursor  of 
the  flood  in  its  fury,  aiiJ  there  was  no  safety  to  the 
reformed  on 3.  The  wine  drinker  might  reel  from  the 
midnight  revel,  or  drool  in  the  saloon,  and  yet  be  all 
that  the  old  pledge  demanded.  The  sot  caught  sight 
of  the  first  beacon  flame  which  shone  dimly  into  the 


248  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

surrounding  darkness,  and  turned  to  greet  its  better 
promise.  The  power  in  the  wine  glass,  the  beer  or 
cider,  harassed  his  footsteps,  and  plunged  him  again 
into  the  abyss,  where  he  beat  the  wave  with  a  feeble 
hand.  Few  of  the  baser  streams  were  dried  np,  for 
the  fountain  head  flowed  on  as  ever,  from  the  side- 
board and  the  social  and  festive  party.  The  blasted 
wrecks  in  the  drunkery  were  but  the  legitimate  re- 
sults of  the  very  priviliges  tolerated  under  the  old 
pledge.  It  was  but  a  cobweb  around  the  uncrippled 
folds  of  the  Hydra.  Not  a  head  had  been  successfully 
struck  off.  The  wine  drops  were  but  the  bloody  seed 
of  new  monsters,  for  not  a  wound  had  been  seared  in 
the  contest. 

At  this  point  the  Total  Abstinence  Pledge  was 
brought  out.  It  followed  naturally  in  the  footsteps 
of  the  other.  The  old  had  prepared  the  way  for  the 
new.  It  added  a  brighter  glow  to  the  first  beacon 
light. 

From  the  truest  friends  of  the  cause  it  met  with 
stern  opposition.  These  men  saw  in  it  ruin  to  the 
great  work.  It  was  the  extreme  of  ultraism.  It  was 
too  radical.  Its  adoption  would  destroy  what  little 
good  had  been  effected,  and  forever  block  the  work 
BO  auspiciously  begun.  The  contest  was  fierce  be- 
tween temperance  men.  A  large  class  were  honestly 
fearfru  of  the  result  from  love  of  the  cause,  while 
others  clung  to  their  "harmless  beverage."  Many 
of  the  latter  class  occupy  the  same  position  to-day. 
They  never  have  advanced.  They  broke  off  during 


BliEAKIXG    GROUND   AGAIN.  249 

the  struggle,  and  there  they  remain,  such  as  have  not 
gone  down  prematurely  to  their  graves. 

But  the  cause  remained  firm  during  the  ordeal, 
The  poorer  material  came  out  without  the  dross,  and 
the  choicer  spirits  gathered  in  closer  union  on  the  ad- 
vanced ground.  The  result  proved  the  wisdom  of 
the  movement.  It  gave  the  reform  strength  and 
power,  and  proportionately  weakened  the  enemy.  In 
the  bar-rooms  and  shops  the  opposition  to  the  new 
pledge  was  the  fiercest.  Rumsellers  were  indignant 
at  this  most  fanatical  crusade  against  their  "  living," 
and  infatuated  customers  grew  eloquent  in  descanting 
about  the  liberties  fought  for  by  their  fathers  of  the 
revolution.  The  cry  of  fanaticism  was  rung  upon  all 
its  charges,  and  some  well  meaning  ones  joined  in  the 
general  crusade  against  the  wild  scheme  of  total  absti- 
nence. Muddled  wit  poured  its  lowest  wrath  of 
slang  phrases  upon  the  fanatics.  Nowhere  were 
there  so  many  tears  shed  over  the  mad  movement  as 
in  the  dram-shop  circle. 

"  What  do  you  think  of  this  new  cold-water  move 
ment  ? "  asked  Counselor  Skillott  of  Doctor  Howard. 

"  What  movement  ?  —  the  new  pledge  ?  " 

"  Yes,  the  total  abstinence,  as  they  caL  it." 

"It   meets   my  hearty  approbation.     Does  it  not 
ours  ? " 

"  I  can't  say  it  does." 

"Why  not?"   * 

"  O,  it 's  fanatical  in  the  extreme.  It  is  an  ill- 
judged  move,  and  will  most  certainly  ruin  the  tern- 


'350  MIXXTK    HERMON. 

perance  cause.  It  is  the  result  of  zeal  without  knowl- 
edge." 

"  How  will  it  ruin  the  cause  ?  Is  n't  temperance 
right?" 

"  O,  yes  ;  temperance  is  a  good  thing.  I  'in  a  tern 
perance  man  ;  but  this  is  carrying  things  too  far — men. 
will  not  go  it." 

"Will  total  abstinence  injure  a  man?  Do  you 
know  of  a  man  who  would  be  injured  by  taking  and 
adhering  to  the  abstinence  pledge  ?  " 

"Ahem  —  it  would  be  well  enough  for  drunkards, 
but  men  of  mind  arid  moderation  will  not  bind  them- 
selves to,  or  countenance  so  unreasonable  a  scheme.  A 
moderate  glass  will  hurt  no  one.  Because  men  abuse 
a  necessary  beverage,  it  is  no  reason  why  all  should 
discard  it  entirely." 

"  Should  friends  of  temperance  recommend  for  the 
drunkard  that  which  they  will  not  themselves  put  in 
practice  ?  Should  men  whose  appetites  do  not  con- 
trol them,  and  consequently  can  make  no  sacrifice, 
hesitate  to  countenance  a  measure  which  is  the  drunk- 
ard's only  hope  ?  You  speak  of  a  '  moderate  glass.' 
Is  it  the  first  glass  which  makes  the  drunkard  ?  Are 
they  not  all  moderate  drinkers  on  the  start  ?  If  there 
were  no  moderate  drinkers,  would  there  ever  be  any 
drunkards  ?  As  to  the  abuse  of  it,  Mr.  Skillott,  I  take 
higher  ground.  From  the  light  of  science,  I  affirm 
that  its  moderate  use  is  an  abuse.  It  is  an  element 
of  discord  and  derangement  in  the  whole  animal  econ- 
omy, and  an  injury  to  every  man  in  health." 


BREAKING  GROUND  AGAIN.  251 

"  But  that  it  is  good  as  a  medicine,  you  will  not  deny.' 

"  And  so  is  arsenic.  But,  because  men  may  take 
the  one  for  a  medicine,  would  it  be  expected  that  he 
should  become  a  habitual  user  of  it  in  health  ? " 

"  But  is  n't  it  needed  in  cold  weather  ?  " 

"  Never  !  I  could  point  you  to  those  in  this  neigh- 
borhood, whose  drinking  habits  were  anything  but 
beneficial  in  cold  weather." 

"  But  men  kill  themselves  with  axes  and  knives." 

"  Very  true.  But  did  you  ever  hear  of  their  form- 
ing morbid  appetites  for  the  use  of  them, — becoming 
murderers  or  suicfdes  from  whittling  or  chopping  cord- 
wood  ? " 

"  But,"  continued  Skillott,  evasively,  "  sober  men 
will  not  go  the  total  abstinence  pledge  —  it  would  be 
an  acknowledgment  of  their  fear  of  becoming  drunk- 
ards." 

"  You  petitioned  for  a  permit  to  keep  a  dice  table  : 
was  it  because  you  wished  to  become  a  gambler? — or 
for  the  benefit  of  others  ? ;' 

The  thrust  went  home,  and  Skillott  declared  him- 
self abused,  and  entered  his  office.  As  Howard  pas- 
sed the  tavern,  a  number  accosted  him  from  the  stoop 
about  the  new  cold-water  trick.  Among  others,  Her- 
mon  assailed  him,  and  charged  him  with  slandering 
him  at  the  meeting  the  night  before. 

"  How,  Mr.  Hermon  ? " 

"  By  saying  that  all  the  tavern-keepers  were  ene- 
mies of  temperance.  I  am  as  much  of  a  temperance 
man  as  you  are." 


252  MINNIE  HERMON. 

"  Ha,  ha ! "  answered  Howard,  looking  Hermon 
steadily  in  the  eye. 

"  What  are  you  laughing  at,  sir  ? "  asked  the  latter, 
evidently  nettled. 

"  At  a  temperance  man's  peddling  rum  to  drunk- 
ards ! " 

"  You  lie,  sir!     I  never  sell  to  drunkards." 

"  But  sell  until  they  are  drunkards,  and  then  turn 
'em  out  for  Shimer  to  finish !  " 

"  I  want  you  and  the  rest  of  your  crew  of  fanatica 
to  understand  that  I  do  not  wish  any  man  to  become 
a  drunkard." 

"  But  still  engage  in  the  only  business  that  makes 
drunkards ! " 

"  It 's  false !     You  are  always  slandering  me." 

"  Mr.  Hermon,  was  there  ever  a  drunkard  in  this 
community  before  your  tavern  was  started  ? " 

"  Then  you  would  say  that  I  made  'ern  all !  " 

"  Who  did?" 

"  It  was  their  own  doings.  I  only  sell  as  I  have  a 
license  to  do." 

"  And  if  you  had  a  license  to  teach  theft,  you  would 
not  be  responsible  for  the  thieves  you  made,  would 
you  ? " 

"  But  you  can't  make  your  total  abstinence  business 
go  down  in  this  community.  People  won't  submit  to 
it.  It  will  ruin  the  temperance  cause." 

"  That 's  a  (hie)  — fact,"  stuttered  a  poor  ragged  ob- 
ject at  Herrnon's  elbow.  "  Will  roo-o— in  tho  t-(hic) 
the  t'hemperance  cause.v 


BREAKING  GROUND  AGAIN.  253 

"  Better  ruin  that  than  to  ruin  men"  coolly  answer- 
ed Howard,  looking  upon  the  reeling  creature. 

"  He  (hie)  —  he  abuses  us,  don't  he  Miz-zer  Her- 
Hermon  ? " 

Howard  was  determined  to  cut  deeper,  and  con 
tinned : 

"You  complain  because  I  stated  that  there  was 
no  safety  in  the  old  pledge  to  the  drunkard  —  that  not 
a  rumseller  in  town  would  refuse  the  reformed  man  a 
glass  of  beer  if  he  knew  it  would  send  him  back  again 
to  his  old  habits." 

"  I  do.     You  state  that  which  is  not  so." 

"  Did  n't  you  let  Miller  have  beer,  knowing  his  ap- 
petite for  liquor,  and  that  it  was  a  trap  to  make  him 
break  his  pledge  ? " 

"  Who  says  that  ?  " 

"/say  it!" 

"It's  false,  I  tell  you.  What  is  a  man  good  for  if 
he  can't  stand  a  glass  of  beer  ?  He  no  need  to  have 
drinked  it." 

"  But  you  saw  him  teazed  until  he  did  drink  it, 
knowing  that  the  liquor  once  down,  the  man  could 
not  control  himself;  and  then  you  let  him  have 
brandy,  and  boasted  that  you  knew  he  wouldn't 
stick." 

"  What  business  is  that  to  you,  if  I  did,"  growled 
Hermon,  with  ill-suppressed  excitement. 

"  It 's  my  business  to  denounce  the  act  as  most 
devilish.  It  shows  your  hypocritical  love  of  the  old 
pl&dye  and  Df  temperance.  An  infernal  imp  might 


254r  MINXIE    HERMON. 

blush  to  see  a  man  plotting  another's  fall  and  then 
rejoice  in  the  ruin." 

"  It  shows  all  the  honesty  there  is  to  your  temper- 
ance men.  They  can't  keep  from  drinking." 

"  Herrnon,  you  are  a  cool,  brazen-faced  scoundrel, 
and  richly  deserve  hanging  for  the  death  of  Miller. 
If  his  spirit  don't  haunt  you,  it 'will  be  because  it  will 
shun  the  den  where  the  body  was  slaughtered." 

"  Who  says  Miller  is  dead,  you  black-hearted 
fanatic  ? " 

"  I  say  so.  I  saw  him  die  this  morning,  and  his 
death  dates  from  the  trap  you  and  Skillott  set  to  heap 
ridicule  upon  the  temperance  cause." 

"  And  becau.se  men  will  make  fools  of  themselves, 
you  would  deprive  me  of  an  honest  living  ?  " 

"Deprive  of  the  power  to  plunder  community,  and 
destroy  your  own  neighbors  —  that 's  all." 

"  You  're  an  abusive  knave  !  I  believe  you  would 
joy  to  see  me  a  pauper.  It 's  all  of  a  piece  with 
your  new  schemes  to  ruin  honest  men." 

"  You  may  as  well  be  a  pauper  as  to  make  paupers. 
A  pretty  temperance  man,  and  prating  too  about  the 
old  pledge  !  Not  a  drunkard  has  fallen  who  does  not 
owe  his  ruin  to  you  and  your  co-laborers  in  ruin. 
You  smile  while  preaching  temperance  and  offering 
our  reformed  men  beer,  knowing  all  the  time  that  one 
glass  is  their  ruin.  It  all  convinces  me  that  our  new 
pledge  is  right ;  for  a  reformed  man  should  not  only 
shun  all  that  can  intoxicate,  but, the  very  plare  where 
the  accursed  poison  ic  kept.  There  is  no  safety  in  the 


BREAKING    GKOUND    AGAIN.  2.5  5 

associations  of  men  who  are  so  utterly  base  and  heart- 
less as  to  work  the  ruin  of  one  who  would  live  and 
die  a  sober  man.  God  deliver  us  from  such  fiends, 
and  keep  the  reformed  drunkard  from  their  accursing 
influence.  Hell  knows  no  blacker  depravity  than 
that  which  would  drag  a  fellow  again  to  degradation, 
or  a  more  rascally  falsehood  than  their  pretended 
temperance.  Satan  was  as  much  a  friend  of  human 
happiness  when  he  slimed  into  Eden.  The  very 
threshold  you  stand  upon,  Hermon,  is  smoking  with 
blood,  and  for  the  universe  of  God,  I  would  not  have 
on  my  hand  the  stain  of  such  guilt  as  is  on  yours.  You 
know  what  you  are  doing.  You  know  that  the  old 
pledge  is  worthless,  and  that  you  rejoice  in  seeing  it 
broken.  I  once  petitioned  for  your  license.  If  God 
will  forgire  me  for  that,  I  never  will  commit  so  great 
a  sin  again.  So  long  as  you  sell  rum  do  not  brand 
yourself  as  an  unblushing  liar  by  continuing  in  the 
business  of  making  drunkards."  The  words  poured  in 
a  torrent  from  Howard's  lips  as  he  stood  close  to  Her- 
mon and  hurled  them  in  his  ear.  His  manner  was  so 
iierce  and  impetuous,  and  his  words  so  scathing,  that 
the  landlord  of  the  "  Home  "  was  apparently  awed 
into  silence,  and  strode  sullenly  back  into  the  bar- 
room. 

"Some  of  these  temperance  fanatics  will  get  so 
crazy  that  they  will  set  everybody  by  the  ears.  If  I 
should  abuse  a  man  as  Howard  has  me,  I  should  not 
blame  him  if  he  should  burn  -my  barn  !  " 

The  crowd  did  not  notice  the  look  that  passed  be- 


256  MINNIE    HEEMON. 

tween  Hermon  and  one  of  his  customers.  That  night 
Howard's  horse-barn  was  burned,  horses,  carriages, 
and  all ;  and  in  the  morning  the  incendiary  was  tracked 
to  Hermon's  shed,  where  the  wretched  creature  was 
frozen,  having  crawled  about  half-way  under  the 
shattered  stable-door. 

Every  rumseller  in  Oakvale  stuck  zealously  for  the 
old  pledge.  If  the  temperance  people  had  abided  by 
that,  they  could  have  gone  with  them  !  The  new 
pledge  was  intolerant  and  fanatical,  and  would  most 
assuredly  ruin  the  cause !  And  these  men,  who  op- 
posed the  first  movement  as  "going  too  far,"  were 
now  its  mourning  friends.  As  for  Counselor  Skillott, 
fie  knew  the  whole  thing  was  originated  by  priestcraft 
and  fanaticism,  and  so  did  n't  join  the  society. 

Among  others  who  frowned  upon  the  new  state  of 
things,  was  Elder  Snyder.  Indeed,  the  first  had  met 
his  stately  and  scornful  displeasure.  The  wicked  and 
the  ungodly  were  admitted  as  members,  and  he  could 
not  associate  with  such.  Atheists,and  men  who  had 
been  drunken,  and  those  who  made  not  long  prayers 
nor  wore  sanctimonious  faces,  had  been  allowed  to 
sign  both  pledges.  Those  who  did  not  attend  his 
church,  nor  pay  their  money  to  support  his  ministry, 
could  not  receive  the  least  countenance  from  him. 

At  a  donation  party  given  to  the  Elder  by  his 
friends,  and  held  at  his  house,  the  subject  of  temper- 
ance was  introduced  and  discussed.  Walter  Bray  ton 
went  so  far  as  to  ask  the  pastor  to  put  his  name  to  the 
pledge.  Looking  upon  the  young  man  with  a  solemn 


BREAKING   GROUND   AGAIN.  257 

frown,  ho  drew  himself  up,  and  in  his  usnal  sancti- 
monious drawl,  gave  his  objections  : 

"Young  man! — I  awfully  fear  you  do  not  know 
what  you  are  doing.  You  and  your  temperance 
friends  are  going  after  strange  gods.  You  seem  to 
think  yourself  wiser  than  your  teachers.  You  are 
most  assuredly  led  away  by  the  blindest  fanaticism, 
and  great  evil  has  already  come  of  it.  Hatreds  and 
jealousies,  strifes  and  contentions,  have  entered  into 
the  hearts  of  my  people.  Satan  has  certainly  to  do 
with  these  strange  and  wicked  doctrines.  You  ask 
me  to  sign  a  pledge  not  to  drink  any  wines  or  spiritu- 
ous liquors  at  all !  The  world,  my  friends,  is  coming 
to  a  strange  pass,  when  we  must  totally  abstain  from 
the  good  gifts  of  (rod.  Temperance  is  a  moderate  use 
of  all  his  bounties.  "We  are  required  by  the  Bible  to 
drink  wine.  The  Saviour  himself  made  and  drank 
wine.  It  is  designed  as  a  blessing  to  man,  and  it  is 
the  will  of  our  Lord  that  we  enjoy  it.  We  are  not 
responsible  for  the  abuse  which  ungodly  men  make 
of  these  things.  Men  are  gluttons  —  and  shall  we 
abstain  from  all  food  ?  Men  are  hypocrites  —  and 
shall  we  discard  the  religion  of  our  Lord  and  Master  ? 
There  is  no  authority  in  the  Bible  for  these  societies. 
I  camiot  saction  what  has  not  a  "  thus  saith  the  Lord  " 
for  it.  Ungodly  men  are  in  this  movement,  and  the 
pious  Christian  should  set  his  face  firmly  against  it. 
He  who  is  within  the  ark  of  safety  needs  none  of  these 
foolish  helps.  If  it  is  the  dear  Lord's  will  to  have 

some  of  the  souls  he  has  created  lost  in  the  abuse  of 
11 


258  MINNIE    HEEMON. 

some  of  his  good  gifts,  it  were  wrong  for  us  to  contra- 
vene  his  purposes.  His  holy  will  be  done.  Those  he 
has  chosen  will  he  save.  A  moderate  use  of  his 
bounties  is  good  for  all.  Let  us  give  thanks." 

And  over  the  table  glittering  with  decanters  and 
glasses  the  false  teacher  craved  a  blessing,  and  the 
wine  went  round.  The  Elder  seemed  to  pride  him 
self  upon  watching  those  to  whom  it  was  presented. 
There  were  few  who  refused  the  cup,  and  the  contents 
produced  a  marked  flow  of  good  feeling.  Hermon 
was  present,  and  at  once  became  a  pattern  of  piety, 
and  donated  to  the  Elder  with  extreme  liberality, 
Brayton  and  Howard  refused  the  wine,  and  there 
were  half-smothered  titterings  about  "cold  water," 
"fools,"  and  "fanaticism."  Minnie  welcomed  the 
cup  with  an  emphatic  no,  which  drew  the  attention 
of  the  company  around  her  ;  but,  save  a  slight  flush, 
she  was  calm,  and  returned  the  reproving  glance  of 
the  pastor  with  dignity  and  firmness,  Back  of  her 
stood  one  who  had  not  yet  attracted  notice.  As  the 
waiter  came  to  him  he  fiercely  put  it  away  with  his 
hand,  and  drew  himself  up,  looking  upon  the '  wine 
with  a  strangely  wild  and  glistening  eye.  His  person 
was  full  six  feet  in  height,  his  countenance  sharp  and 
pale,  his  hair  long,  and  his  eyes  deeply  sunken  and 
intensely  brilliant.  He  wore  a  long  surtout  coat, 
closely  buttoned,  had  on  a  broad-brimmed  hat,  and 
in  his  hand  a  long  staff. 

"  No ! "  he  fairly  howled  through  his   clenched 
teeth.     "  Away  with  the  sparkling  devil !     It  bubbles 


BREAKING  GROUND  AGAIN.  259 

with  damnation !  It  is  the  red  blood  of  butchery  1 
It  is  the  fiery  beverage  of  hell !  The  tempter  is  coil- 
ed at  the  bottom !  '  At  last  it  stingeth  like  an  adder 
and  biteth  like  a  serpent !  '  It  shall  sting  to  utter  ruin 
the  hand  which  hands  it  this  night  with  the  mockery 
of  a  blessing  craved  upon  it !  I  say,  get  thee  gone, 
devil,  or  the  arm  of  the  Lord  shall  smite  thee !  "  The 
strange  personage  raised  his  long  staff,  and  would 
have  fiercely  dashed  the  cup  in  fragments  had  it  re- 
mained before  him. 

"  Who  thus  intrudes  here  so  noisily  ? "  asked  the 
Elder,  pale  with  anger. 

"  The  chosen  of  the  Lord — the  avenger  of  the  slain  I 
Blood  cries  from  the  ground,  and  the  widow  and  or- 
phan beg  for  bread.  Woe !  woe !  for  the  Mighty 
One  is  after  ye  !  Hypocrites,  false  teachers,  gluttons, 
and  wine  bibbers,  woe !  for  the  end  cometh !  Men. 
are  led  astray  by  wicked  ones  in  priestly  garb,  and 
the  innocents  are  wailing  for  bread  in  the  land.  The 
wrath  of  God  kindles  against  ye  for  the  violence  in 
the  land,  and  shall  consume  ye  as  stubble!  Woe! 
woe !  woe !  I  say,  ye  workers  of  ruin  !  It  is  written 
against  ye  in  blood,  and  God  shall  avenge  the  fallen  I 
Away  !  I  tell  ye,  with  the  beverage  of  the  damned  1 
Thus  I  will  smite  thee  as  the  Lord  smote  the  wicked 
of  old,  and  will  smite  them  again  !  " 

Whirling  his  long  staff  with  an  almost  supernatu- 
ral power  an.d  velocity,  he  stepped  towards  the  side- 
board, and  with  an  eye  red  and  glaring,  and  a  voice 
swelling  into  a  howl,  with  one  tremendous  swoop, 


260  MINNIE   HEEMON. 

dashed  every  glass  and  decanter  into  a  thousand  frag- 
ments.  Astonishment  was  upon  every  countenance, 
and  there  was  not  a  whisper  in  the  room  until  a  wild, 
maniac-burst  of  laughter  came  back  from  the  strange 
apparition  as  he  emerged  into  the  street. 

Paleness  lingered  upon  the  lip  of  Elder  Snyder  — 
the  paleness  of  anger  not  unmixed  with  that  of  awe. 
The  stranger  was  a  personage  not  to  be  forgotten,  for 
his  tones  had  a  startling  energy  and  power.  The  com- 
pany did  not  recover  from  the  influence  of  the  inci- 
dent, and  soon  dispersed. 

Among  those  who  were  present  that  night,  was  a 
reformed  man  by  the  name  of  Whitney.  From  the 
lowest  depths  of  drunkenness  he  had  come  up,  and  by 
industry  and  unblemished  good  conduct  had  given 
promise  of  redeeming  the  position  he  had  lost  in  soci- 
ety, and  of  living  a  life  of  future  usefulness.  His 
family  were  again  comfortable,  his  children  at  school, 
and  he  prospering  at  his  trade.  He  had  united  with 
the  Methodist  church,  and  by  his  exemplary  deport- 
ment won  the  full  confidence  of  its  members.  He 
had  that  night  been  for  the  first  time  within  the  reach 
of  the  fatal  circle  of  the  glass.  The  gurgle  of  the 
liquor  and  its  foam,  with  the  solemn  sophistry  and 
example  of  a  Christian  minister,  combined  to  under- 
mine his  integrity.  Beautifully  the  incense  rose  up 
before  him,  and  as  Snyder  himself  presented  the  cup 
lie  impulsively  grasped  it  firmly  and  drained  it  off. 
A  smouldering  fire  was  kindled.  A  wild  glow  shot 
through  every  vein,  and  within  his  stomach  the  demon 


BREAKING  GROUND  AGAIN  261 

was  aroused  in  his  strength.  Whitney  had  but  one 
thought  —  more  drink!  That  he  must  have.  The 
desire  burned  within  him.  It  crept  to  his  lingers 
ends,  and  out  in  a  burning  flush  upon  his  cheek.  lie 
writhed  helplessly,  and  the  large  drops  stood  thickly 
upon  his  brow.  He  felt  as  if  already  fallen — a  guilty 
wretch — and  shrunk  cowering  from  the  gaze  of  every 
eye. 

''  "What  is  the  matter,  Whitney  ? "  kindly  asked 
Brayton,  as  he  passed  him  in  going  out.  Whitney 
started  as  if  from  a  nightmare,  and  glared  silently  at 
vacancy.  Snatching  his  hat,  he  rushed  out  with  a 
half-sad,  half-exultant  yell,  and  sped  down  the  street 
into  Hermon's. 

"  Drink !  drink !  for  God's  sake  give  me  drink ! 
Quick ! "  and  the  trembling  wretch  turned  with  a 
ghastly  stare  at  the  door,  as  if  dreading  the  approach 
of  some  one,  his  hands  fastened  convulsively  upon  the 
slats  before  the  bar. 

A  devilish  smile  crept  over  the  swollen  visage  of 
Hermon,  as  he  saw  who  it  was  who  begged  so  madly 
for  drink.  Hesitating  a  moment,  as  if  enjoying  the 
struggles  of  the  victim,  he  sneeringly  asked : 

"That  yon,  Whitney?  I  thought  you  was  a  tem- 
perance man !  What  '11  the  church  say  ?  But  I 
s'pose  you  will  drink  moderately"  and  he  smiled  more 
fiendishly  than  ever. 

"  Drink !  I  say ;  give  me  drink.  Money,  soul, 
clothes,  tools  —  everything  for  one  drink !  Give  it  to 


262  MINNIE   HEEMON. 

me,  quick ! "  and  the  poor  maniac  emptied  liis  pock- 
ets upon  the  counter,  and  pulled  off  his  coat  and 
hurled  it  into  the  bar.  His  eye  gleamed  and  kindled 
as  he  glanced  upon  the  shining  bottles,  and  his  voice 
was  choked  and  husky,  he  constantly  begging  as 
though  his  whole  system  was  on  fire. 

Bray  ton  and  Howard  entered  just  as  Hermon  set 
the  bottle  on  the  counter.  Whitney  heard  their  foot- 
steps, and  convulsively  grasped  the  bottle  and  tum- 
bler and  turned  it  full,  and  in  his  eagerness  spilled  as 
much  more  upon  the  counter. 

"  Whitney  !•  in  God's  name,  what  are  you  doing? 
Hermon !  more  of  your  devilish  work ! "  said  How- 
ard, rushing  up  to  the  bar  and  arresting  the  arm  of 
Whitney.  But  the  latter  was  too  quick  for  the  move- 
ment. Grasping  both  hands  fiercely  araund  the  glass, 
he  dropped  his  mouth  to  the  rim,  and  turned  the  con- 
tents off  at  a  breath,  shutting  his  teeth  with  a  spasm 
as  he  did  so,  breaking  the  top  of  the  glass  in  pieces, 
and  spitting  them  on  the  floor.  With  a  long,  deep 
breath  he  drew  himself  up  to  his  full  height,  and 
dashed  the  bottom  full  in  the  face  of  Howard.  The 
yell  that  followed  the  act  was  horrible. 

"  You  thought  to  keep  me  from  drink,  eh  ?  I  '11 
have  it  if  I  have  t,o  go  to  hell  after  it !  Who-o-oqp  ! 
Won't  Father  Merrill  roar  when  he  finds  old  Whit- 
ney 's  born  again !  I  'hi  your  boy  to  say  amen,  Doc- 
tor!" and  with  drunken  laughter  he  commenced  a 
bacchanalian  song,  and  danced  wildly  around  the 


BREAKING  GROUND  AGAIN.  263 

room.  No  words  from  Howard  or  Brayton  could 
touch  him ;  and  he  fiercely  repelled  all  efforts  to  lead 
him  from  the  tavern. 

"  Better  have  him  sign  the  pledge  again,"  sneered 
Hermon,  from  behind  his  counter. 

"  Black-hearted,  murderous  villain ! "  groaned  How- 
ard from  between  his  teeth,  as  he  reached  in  vain  for 
the  landlord  over  the  counter.  "  You  deserve  hang- 
ing most  richly.  None  but  a  devil  in  human  guise 
would  thus  exult  in  such  work.  I  did  not  dream  that 
earth  had  such  monsters  as  you !  "  The  Doctor  stood 
glaring  upon  the  sneering  landlord,  who  wisely  kept 
out  of  his  reach. 

"  And  he  will  hang  yet,  for  the  avenger  will  over 
take  him  in  such  an  hour  as  he  knoweth  not.  He  is 
both  a  curse  and  accursed,  and  so  shall  hang  clear  of 
the  earth."  All  within  the  room  started  at  the  sound 
of  that  voice,  and  beheld  the  strange  man  with  the 
long  surtout  and  staff,  steadily  gazing  upon  Hermon. 
The  sneer  upon  the  face  of  the  latter  faded  away  un- 
der the  basilisk  gaze,  and  a  chill  strangely  crept  over 
him  —  the  voice  was  familiar,  and  stirred  unpleasant 
memories. 

That  night  the  spirit  of  another  fallen  one  went 
where  rum  is  not.  As  the  water  was  let  upon  the 
wheel  of  the  grist-mill  the  next  morning,  it  made  a 
few  revolutions,  and  then  with  a  crushing  sound  ceased 
to  tuin.  No  effort  with  poles  and  hooks  could  re- 
move the  difficulty,  and  the  water  was  let  out  of  the 
dam.  Crushed  in  among  the  broken  buckets  was  a 


264  MINNIE   HEEMON. 

corpse,  the  head,  shoulders  and  arms  left  unbroken. 
Erect  as  in  life,  the  bloated  features  of  Whitney 
glared  out,  and  the  dripping  hair  lay  closely  upon  the 
bloodless  brow. 

As  the  wife  and  children,  too  soon  hearing  of  the 
affair,  came  wailing  to  the  scene,  and  fell  weeping 
over  the  wet  and  bloody  remains,  Hermon  turned  and 
slipped  away. 

"  The  murderers  are  not  all  hung  yet !  "  was  his- 
sed close  to  his  ear.  He  started,  but  dared  not  turn 
to  look,  for  he  knew  his  tormentor. 

"With  a  heart  full  of  keener  anguish  than  even  tho 
wife,  Minnie  Hermon  attended  the  funeral  of  Whit- 
ney. The  sermon  was  from  these  words,  "  Where  is 
thy  brother?"  She  felt  that  poor  Whitney  had  died 
by  her  own  father's  hand,  and  every  sob  from  the 
widow  and  the  orphans  added  keener  pangs  to  her 
own  bitter  anguish. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

LIGHT   EST    A   DARK    PLACE. 

AMONG  others  who  sold  rum  in  Oakvale,  was  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Jnd  Lane,  one  of  the  most  reck- 
less and  unprincipled  of  his  class.  He  kept  what  was 
called  the  u  Lower  Tavern,"  a  low  and  disreputable 
den,  by  the  river  bridge.  The  building  itself  was  a 
miserable  structure,  answering  for  a  grog-shop  and 
gambling  den.  The  boards  were  oif  the.  shed,  the 
floor  of  the  stoop  rotten,  and  falling  away,  and  one 
end  of  the  upright  part  settling  down  with  age  and 
decay.  The  sheeting  was  loose  and  clattering,  the 
windows  dirty  and  broken,  and  the  door  worn  and 
begrimmed  with  dirt.  The  bar-room  looked  aa 
though  it  had  never  been  cleaned.  Dirt  and  tobacco 
spittle  was  thickly  crusted  upon  the  floor ;  the  wooden 
bars  before  the  windows  were  greasy  and  cut  up  with 
the  knife,  and  the  old  brick  fire-place  was  crumbling 
away.  A  long  seat  reached  from  the  old-fashioned 
oat-bin  to  the  door,  well  worn  by  the  groups  which 
had  for  years  there  set  and  displayed  their  slavering 
wisdom.  An  old  wash  sink  stood  in  the  corner,  slimed 
over  again  and  again  by  dirty  drippings,  surmounted 
by  a  washbowl  marked  inside  with  a  circle  of  the 
more  plentiful  ornamenting.  Upon  the  roller  was  a 


266  MINNIE    HERMON. 

napkin  to  match.  A  huge  boot-jack  hung  over  the 
mantel,  together  with  circus  bills,  sheriff's  sales,  and 
auction  or  patent  medicine  placards,  "  sold  here." 
The  bar  was  one  of  the  old-fashioned  kind,  with  a 
picket  work  and  double  door.  Gringy  kegs,  decan- 
ters and  a  bottle  of  stoughton,  with  candy  in  a  seven- 
by-nine  glass  case,  completed  the  bar-room  furniture 
of  the  "  River  Hotel." 

Jud  Lane  was  a  man  worthy  of  a  moment's  atten- 
tion. He  was  a  licensed  agent  of  the  government^ 
dealing  liquors  in  that  old  shed  by  the  authority  of 
law.  He  was  hardly  of  medium  stature,  but  thick 
set ;  his  features  harsh  and  repulsive,  hair  matted, 
and  concealing  a  low  and  retreating  brow,  eyes  of  a 
muddy  bronze  color,  nose  flattened,  neck  thick,  and 
lower  jaw  heavy,  arms  long,  and  legs  crooked  to  de- 
formity. "With  hands  thrust  deeply  into  his  pockets 
and  hat  drawn  down  over  his  eyes,  he  moved  back- 
wards and  forwards  across  the  floor.  His  whole  as- 
pect was  most  villainous,  indicating  the  inner  man  in 
palpable  and  revolting  language.  None  of  earth's 
unfortunates  was  ever  too  degraded  to  be  turned 
away  from  his  bar.  The  vilest  of  ruin's  shattered 
wrecks  crawled  regularly  into  his  den  for  the  drain. 
The  wife  or  the  child  would  never  have  thought  of  en- 
tering his  door  to  protest  against  his  course  with  hus- 
band or  p^ent.  His  mouth  was  an  ever-active  crater 
of  the  most  vile  and  malignant  cursing.  His  own 
sister's  husband  had  drank,  and  died  a  horrible  death 
in  his  bar-room.  Still  more  abandoned  and  malig- 


LIGHT   IN   A   DARK   PLACE.  267 

naut  as  the  reform  came  into  notice,  Jud  Lane  pre- 
sented the  perfect  embodiment  of  a  callous,  cruel  and 
revengeful  rum-dealer.  He  would  rather  sell  rum 
and  slaughter  his  fellows,  in  the  River  Hotel,  than 
live  elsewhere  honored  and  respected.  His  boys  were 
like  him,  playing  the  most  abusive  tricks  upon  the 
poor  wretches  who  lingered  there  for  their  drams. 

Election  day  had  drawn  to  a  close,  but  crowds  still 
lingered  to  drink  and  carouse.  Jud  Lane's  tavern 
secured  a  large  number  of  votes,  and  the  election 
had  been  held  there.  At  night,  the  bar-room  was 
densely  crammed  with  people,  swaying,  singing, 
shouting,  cursing,  drinking,  and  now  and  then  fight- 
ing, the  dim  light  revealing  an  atmosphere  loaded 
with  the  mingled  odor  of  tobacco  and  rum,  reeking 
like  a  poisonous  stench  from  the  lungs  of  the  drunk- 
en mass.  The  jingle  of  glasses  was  incessant,  and  at 
the  hour  of  midnight,  tipplers  and  drunken  men  still 
lingered.  The  bunk  and  the  space  under  the  bench, 
the  shed  and  the  hay-loft,  were  stored  with  drunken 
men.  Such  is  the  material  out  of  which  partisan 
leaders  manufacture  the  "  popular  will,"  and  slime 
into  public  stations. 

Five  hard-looking  customers  were  still  drinking  at 
the  bar,  alternating  with  a  song  or  a  story,  by  one 
of  the  number.  One  of  them  was  a  middle-aged 
man,  slightly  gray,  and  not  entirely  unprepossessing 
in  his  appearance,  save  the  bloated  face  and  the  dirty 
suit  of  rags.  He  was  a  leader  among  them,  and  dis- 
played talent  in  his  drunken  sallies. 


268  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

The  subjects  of  temperance,  and  the  meeting  ap- 
pointed for  the  morrow  evening,  came  up. 

"  I'll  treat  the  crowd,  if  you'll  all  go,  boys,  and 
carry  your  bottles  and  give  'em  beans"  said  Lane 
cool  and  sober  in  the  midst  of  the  general  drunken 
ness. 

"  Done,"  said  Barney  Kits.  "  H — ot  wa-(hic)-ter 
agin  cold.  Set  on  the  top-hetchel.  Old  Barney's  on 
earth  in  spite  of  rum  and  lightning." 

"  I'll  treat  again,  if  you'll  egg  that  long-haired  cuss 
who  is  round  preaching  on  the  corners  of  the  streets, 
and  find  the  tools,"  continued  Lane,  bitterly.  "  Catch 
him  on  my  steps !  "  and  he  ground  his  teeth  as  he 
crushed  the  sugar  in  the  glass. 

"A  shilling  to  the  man  who  hits  him ! "  dis- 
tinctly muttered  our  strange  friend  in  the  long  hair 
and  surtout,  as  he  emerged  from  the  darkness  of 
the  street  and  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room.  The 
noise  was  at  once  hushed,  and  Lane  scowled  with  an- 
gered surprise. 

"  The  long  haired  hypocrite  will  be  there  to-mor- 
row night.  Bring  your  eggs,  Jud  Lane.  A  rotten 
cause  and  a  rotten  heart  must  need  rotten  arguments. 
Bring  'em  along,  and  also  those  you  prey  upon. 

"Out  of  the  house,  you  black-coated  devil,'' 
growled  Lane,  but  keeping  safely  behind  the  bar 
Halton,  put  him  out  —  poker  him  out." 

Hal  ton,  the  man  in  rags,  seized  the  stranger  at  the 
word,  and  was  proceeding  to  put  the  command  in  ex- 
ecution, when  the  latter,  with  the  ease  with  which  he 


LIGHT  IN   A  DARK  PLACE.  269 

•would  have  taken  a  child,  unhanded  Halton's  grasp, 
and  looked  him  sternly  in  the  eye. 

"  Henry  Halton,  I  knew  yon  when  you  were  one 
of  the  most  honored  of  men.  There  is  yet  manhood 
and  pride  in  your  heart.  I  know  there  is.  This  is 
not  the  place  or  the  company  for  you.  .  You  did  not 
look  thus  when  you  stood  with  Mary  Densmore  at 
the  altar.  A  spell  is  upon  ye !  Come  away,  Henry 
Halton,  from  this  vile  place,  and  be  saved.  We  will 
meet  you  half-way,  and  there  shall  be  singing  and  re- 
joicing for  the  prodigal's  return.  Your  sainted  moth- 
er and  wife  are  looking  down  from  Heaven.  Angela 
are  weeping,  Henry,  and  at  home,  [the  stranger 
whispered  as  he  breathed  the  words  into  Halton's  ear] 
the  only  being  who  loves  you  on  earth,  weeps  and 
prays  for  her  father.  Your  friends  are  not  hsre,  Hen- 
ry Halton  !  Go  with  us  and  be  saved.  Be  saved — 
Henry  Halton,  be  saved'!  " 

The  lustrous  and  melting  eyes  worked  a  strange 
spell  over  the  hardened  drunkard.  As  a  tear  from 
the  stranger's  eye  fell  upon  the  open  ^alm,  Halton 
wept,  and  a  sigh  swelled  up  in  his  broad  bosom.  Still 
in  the  stranger's  grasp,  he  looked  imploringly  in  his 
eye,  as  if  hope  was  springing  up  in  his  darkened 
heart. 

"  Will  you  come,  Henry.  Halton  —  come  to  honor 
and  to  God  ?  Say  this  night  you  will,  and  there  shall 
be  rejoicing  in  Heaven  !  Come!  " 

A  strange  scene  in  the  dimly  lighted  bar-room  of 
the  River  Hotel !  Drunkards  were  looking  unstead- 


270  MEmrE  HEEMON. 

ily  but  silently  upon  it,  and  from  behind  the  bar, 
where  the  last  round  of  glasses  stood  untasted,  glow- 
ered Lane  with  clenched  fists  and  teeth  upon  the 
stranger. 

"  Halton  !  tarry  not  among  the  tombs.  Come  !  " 
lie  continued. 

"  Before  God  I  will!  "  gasped  Halton,  as  a  deeper 
Bigh  escaped  his  bosom,  and  he  ventured  to  look 
around  him.  As  his  eye  rested  upon  Lane,  he  quailed, 
so  fearful  is  the  influence  of  the  dealer  upon  his  vic- 
tim. The  stranger  saw  it,  and  continued  : 

"  Who  else  is  there  here  this  night  who  will  come 
with  Henry  Halton  to  home  and  manhood,  and  God? 
Come  with  him  this  night,  and  be  enslaved  ones  no 
more.  Turn  from  the  past."  And  the  stranger,  in 
low  bat  strangely  sweet  and  thrilling  tones,  com- 
menced and  sang  "  Long,  Long  Ago."  The  drunk- 
ards wept,  and  as  the  question  was  again  asked, 
"  Who  will  come  with  Halton  ?  "  four  of  them  reeled 
up  around  him,  joining  hands  to  keep  from  falling. 

"And  here  you  solemnly  pledge  yourselves  never 
to  drink  anything  which  can  intoxicate  again. 

"  We-(hi'c)-we  do." 

"And  may  God  help  you  !  ISTow,"  thundered  the 
stranger,  a  wild  and  joyous  light  kindling  in  his  eye, 
"  come  away,  and  tarry  not,  nor  look  back,  or  the  ene- 
my is  upon  you  ?  Come  !  "  and  the  five  customers  of 
the  "River  Hotel "  went  out  after  the  strange  man  in 
the  long  surtout. 

With  a  torrent  of  curses  pouring  from  his  mouth, 


UGHT   IN   A   DAKK    PLACE. 

Jud  Lane  turned  the  liquor  in  the  glasses  back  into 
the  decanter,  and  walked  his  bar-room  like  a  mad- 
dened fiend,  gnashing  his  teeth,  and  swearing  ven- 
geance upon  the  temperance  fanatics,  and  the  five 
customers  in  particular.  "  They  would'nt  get  no  more 
liquor  from  his  shop,  if  they  choked  to  death  ; "  and 
yet  the  man's  only  consolation  in  his  anger  was,  that 
they  would  all  be  back  again  before  the  week  was  out. 

—  Desolate  was  the  foul  den,  with  only  the  snoring 
drunkards  left ;  and  Jud  Lane  went  cursing  to  bed. 

The  next  morning,  Jud  Lane  looked  confidently  for 
the  coming  of  his  five  customers  for  their  usual  morn- 
ing drams.  He  knew  no  passion  but  those  of  avarice 
and  hate,  and  he  raved  when  he  was  cheated  of  a  cus- 
tomer. Skillott  came  in  while  Lane  was  sullenly 
pacing  his  bar-room.  Skillott  had  become  an  habit- 
ual tippler,  and  to  disguise  his  habits  he  would  range 
through  the  whole  list  of  drinking  places,  and 
drink  at  them  all.  Lane  rehearsed  his  grievances  to 
a  sympathetic  listener.  Both  heaped  abuse  upon  the 
temperance  people.  As  to  the  five  drunkards  who 
had  been  led  away  by  that  long-coated  hypocrite,  both 
hoped  they  would  choke  tc  death  before  they  could 
find  a  drop, 

"  But  never  mind  ;  you  '11  have  'em,  Lane,  before 
the  week 's  out :  nothing  to  trap  'em." 

"Get  'em  here  again  and  I'll  sweat  'em.  I'll 
learn  'em  to  leave  an  old  friend  for  these  cussed  fa- 
natics. I'll  sue  every  mother's  son  of  'em,  or  my 
name  ain't  Jud  Lane." 


272  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

"  Do  they  owe  you  ? "  pleasantly  asked  Skillott,  ta- 
king his  lips  from  the  glass  he  was  emptying,  and 
brightening  up  at  the  thought  of  a  fee. 

"  They  do,  every  one  of  'em  ;  and  I  '11  have  my  pay 
or  jug  'em." 

"  You  'vQJu<fd  ''em,  pretty  well  already,"  put  in  old 
Barney  Kits,  who  had  just  dropped  in  for  his  dram. 

Lane  turned  upon  the  inveterate  old  joker  with  an 
angry  frown,  but  smothered  the  usual  torrent  of  oaths 
as  the  old  fellow  put  down  his  sixpence. 

"  It  would  be  but  justice,"  continued  Skillott,  with 
assumed  indifference.  "They  have  had  too  many 
favors  to  turn  against  you,  and  they  certainly  cannot 
complain  if  made  to  pay  their  honest  debts." 

"I've  always  been  doin'  'em  favors,  and  lettin7 
7em  have  liquor  when  they  hadn't  any  money.  If 

they  don't  quit  their  foolin'  I'll  fix  'em,  d n  me  if 

I  don't.  Jud  Lane  knows  where  to  bite." 

"I  expect  Brayton  and  Howard  will  have  them 
lecturing  on  temperance  before  Saturday  night,"  said 
Skillott,  with  a  sneer,  ready  to  heap  ridicule  upon  the 
temperance  movement  " They'll  make  strong  men! 
—  ha,  ha!" 

"  ISTot  while  Lane's  liquor  is  in  'em,"  gravely  an- 
swered old  Barney  ;  "  too  much  pump  water." 

"Kits,  you  old  bloat  haven't  I  warned  you  to 
Stop  your  devilish  stuff?  I  won't  stand  it." 

"  I  can't  stand  either,  half  the  time,  such  stuff, " 
replied  Kits,  winking  waggishly  at  Lane. 

"  You  mustn't  turn  off  any  of  your  jokes  on  me/' 


LIGHT   JU   A   DARK   PLACE.  273 

"  It  'ft  a  long  lane,  that  has  no  turn,"  persisted  tho 
half-drunken  wag.  Lane  was  maddened,  for  he  took 
the  drive  as  made  at  his  hump  back. 

"  You  ought  to  be  shot,  you  old  viper !  " 

"Just  been  shot  —  in  the  neck.  'T ain't  (hie)  — 
mortal,  though  ;  "  and  old  Barney  attempted  to  stand 
steady  and  look  wise. 

"  You  drunken  old  cuss  !  you'd  better  join  in  Hal- 
ton's  gang,  you  feel  so  sharp." 

"  Been  one  of  Haltbn's  gang  this  five  years.  Ex- 
pect to 

"  Hear  ye  !  hear  ye !  hear  ye  !  men  and  women  of 
Oakvale !  The  trump  of  the  Lord  is  sounding,  and 
the  dead  are  coming  forth.  Ho  !  ye  enslaved  ones  ! 
Men  having  devils  and  dwelling  among  the  tombs : 
there  is  hope  for  the  lost.  An  arm  mighty  to  save 
is  stretched  forth,  and  deliverance  is  near.  Hear  ye ! 
hear  ye !  the  good  Samaritans  are  among  you.  Those 
who  have  been  among  thieves  shall  be  washed  and 
healed.  Drunkards  who  have  squandered  all  in  riot- 
ous living,  and  hungered  for  the  husks  fed  to  the 
swine :  we  bid  you  return.  There  is  bread  enough 
and  to  spare  —  hallelujah  to  God !  and  there  shall  be 
singing  and  rejoicing  in  the  land,  for  the  lost  are 
found.  Ho!  dwellers  in  the  dark  places!  Come 
forthi  The  commissioned  of  the  Lord  bringeth  you 
glad  tidings.  He  will  break  your  bonds  and  bid  the 
captive  go  free.  Drunkards !  come  out  from  the  dens 
of  prey.  Let  the  licensed  buzzards  starve  for  the 
want  of  human  carrion.  God's  judgments  are  close 


274:  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

upon  them,  and  sure  and  swift  destruction  upon  them 
and  theirs.  Ho !  ye  that  thirst,  come !  I  come  to 
bear  you  the  holy  truths  of  the  temperance  reform. 
There  is  light  in  the  dark  places,  and  the  waste  ones 
are  made  glad.  The  gospel  is  preached  to  the  poor 
and  the  blind  ones  are  made  to  see. 

"  We  're  coining,  we  're  coming,  the  sober  and  free, 
Like  the  winds  of  the  desert,  the  waves  of  the  sea ; 
True  sons  of  brave  sires,  who  battled  of  yore, 
When  England's  red  lion  roar'd  wild  on  our  shore. 

We  're  coming,  we  're  coming,  from  mountain  and  glen, 
With  hands  that  are  steady  —  we  're  freemen  again  ; 
Let  Alcohol  tremble  as  't  ne'er  trembled  before, 
For  we  swear  by  Great  Heaven  to  drink  it  no  more  I " 

J  tid  Lane  fairly  raved  when  he  recognized  the  voice 
of  the  man  in  the  long  coat.  That  personage  had 
mounted  the  horse-block  by  the  sign-post.  There  was 
something  strangely  wild  in  his  person  and  manner. 
His  tall  form  was  erect,  his  hat  off,  and  his  long  hair 
swaying  in  the  wind.  With  one  hand  upon  the  staff 
and  the  other  extended  with  the  long  finger  quiver- 
ing, his  eye  half  tender  and  half  fierce,  his  coat  but- 
toned to  the  throat,  and  his  beard  hanging  upon  his 
breast,  his  aspect  was  singularly  striking  and  impres- 
sive. His  voice  was  in  keeping ;  now  tremulous  with 
a  tear,  and  again  rising  into  a  wail,  or  howling  with 
terrible  energy,  as  his  invective,  unequalled  in  bitter- 
ness and  strength,  fell  fierce  and  scathing  upon  all 
connected  with  the  rum  trafiic.  There  was  awe  in 


LIGHT   IN   A   DARK  PLACE.  275 

his  impassioned  and  hazardous  eloquence,  and  beams 
of  unearthly  light  seemed  literally  to  shoot  from  his 
eye  when  he  towered  in  passion.  With  clenched 
teeth  and  burning  cheeks,  the  dealers  shrank  from  his 
gaze  and  blistering  speech.  Clear  and  swelling  like 
a  trumpet's  tone,  his  voice  rang  out  and  crowds  gath- 
ered to  hear  and  to  see  him.  There  was  something 
unaccountably  fascinating  in  his  half-mad  harangues. 
His  sneer,  when  pouring  sarcasm  upon  the  dealers, 
was  as  withering  as  the  sarcasm  itself.  But  when  he 
appealed  to  the  drunkards,  a  smile  like  sunlight  would 
melt  every  feature  into  wondrous  beauty.  Step  by 
step  the  crowd,  drunkards  included,  would  gather 
closer  to  the  man,  as  if  drawn  by  some  unseen  power. 
Even  Jud  Lane  could  not  keep  from  looking  from  the 
hall  out  upon  the  speaker.  "With  all  the  severity  of 
the  man's  speech,  and  the  bitterness  of  his  personal 
assaults,  there  was  blended  a  world  of  truth  and 
tender,  moving  pathos.  He  never  spared  the  dealer, 
nor  even  gave  them  credit  for  a  single  redeeming 
trait.  It  seemed  to  delight  him  to  lance  them  with- 
out mercy.  From  appeals  of  the  most  gentle  and 
mournful  earnestness,  he  would  turn,  as  his  eye  caught 
sight  of  one  of  them,  and,  as  if  startled  by  the  sound 
of  a  rattlesnake,  hiss  sweeping  imprecations  upon 
them  and  their  business,  between  his  clenched  teeth 
and  pallid  lips.  He  believed  himself  commissioned 
by  the  Lord  to  "smite  the  monster"  in  his  strong 
places.  Some  secret  and  unknown  cause  of  hatred 
to  the  rum  traffic  and  those  employed  in  it,  with  wild 


276  MINNIE  HERMON. 

religious  frenzy  and  deep  natural  enthusiasm,  gave 
his  impetuous  eloquence,  and  with  reason,  the  cast  of 
fanaticism.  His  denunciations  of  wine  bibbers  and 
drinking  church-members  and  priests,  were  bold  and 
merciless. 

Jud  Lane  had  just  come  in  for  a  blast  which  blis 
tered  as  it  reached  the  raving  victim.  Turning  to  a 
drunken  Irishman,  the  landlord  offered  him  a  gallon 
of  rum  if  he  would  go  around  between  the  shed  and 
the  house  and  hurl  a  dozen  of  eggs  at  the  speaker. 
Pat  was  just  drunk  enough  to  eagerly  agree  to  the 
proposition.  The  "  crazy  preacher,"  as  he  was  called, 
had  just  finished  the  two  verses  we  have  quoted,  and 
the  melody  of  the  wild  and  stirring  air  yet  lingered 
in  the  hearts  of  the  crowd,  when  an  egg  crashed 
against  the  sign-post  close  by  his  head.  A  freezing 
sneer  crept  over  his  face  as  he  turned  his  eye  in  the 
direction  from  whence  the  missile  came. 

"  Ho!  ho  !  friends.  Here  are  arguments  upon  the 
other  side  of  the  house.  Better  send  us  their  eggs 
than  their  liquor.  If  the  wretch  who  reared  this  post 
would  smear  it  with  human  blood  instead  of  yolk,  the 
argument  would  be  better  put  and  more  appropriate. 
Blood  is  upon  their  sign-posts,  their  thresholds,  and 
their  counters.  It  is  upon  their  hands  and  their 
hearts.  But  vengeance  is  mine,  saith  the  Lord,  and 
the  widows'  and  children's  wrongs  shall  be  avensred. 

O  O 

Ha,  ha !  another  of  their  arguments,  and  applied  to  a 
subject,  too.  [The  egg  hit  old  Barney.]  But  better 
on  your  coat,  brother,  than  the  man's  poison  in  your 


LIGHT    IN    A    DARK    PLACE.  27Y 

heart.  The  monsters  writhe,  for  their  power  is  de- 
parting from  them."  There  was  a  shout  from  the 
boys,  and  a  crash  of  boards  under  the  shed.  In  step- 
ping back  from  the  shed  window,  as  he  hurled  the 
second  egg,  Pat  trod  upon  a  short  board  and  fell 
through  to  the  ground. 

"  And  so  shall  the  traffic  fall  to  the  ground,  and 
those  engaged  in  it.  Their  arguments  cannot  sustain 
them." 

The  fall  was  a  serious  matter  with  Pat,  for  he  had 
broken  an  arm  and  a  leg,  and  was  groaning  with  pain. 
The  preacher  was  quickly  by  his  side,  and  without 
assistance  bore  him  into  the  bar-room.  Jud  Lane 
stood  cowering  like  a  spirit  of  evil  in  his  bar  at  the 
turn  things  had  taken  and  the  comments  freely  made 
by  some  in  the  crowd.  It  was  in  his  heart  to  turn 
the  whole  company  out  of  doors.  Pat  begged  for 
rum,  and  while  the  preacher  was  after  Howard, 
Lane  drew  a  glass  and  carried  it  to  him,  but  as  it  was 
lifted  to  Pat's  lips,  the  long  staif  of  the  Hermit,  as  the 
preacher  was  called,  swooped  down  and  dashed  it  into 
fragments. 

"  Away  with  your  poison !  A  broken  arm  and  leg 
are  enough.  Hand  him  rum  at  your  peril,  Jud  Lane. 
Before  God  I  will  serve  you  as  I  have  the  glass. 
Stand  back!" 

Stooping  down,  the  Hermit  again  lifted  Pat  in  his 
arms,  and  bore  him  out  and  away  from  the  "  River 
Hotel "  to  Howard's  office.  As  he  came  out,  he  again 
addressed  the  crowd  who  followed,  making  effective 


278  MINNIE!   HEEMON. 

use  of  the  circumstance.  Jud  Lane  had  made  Pat 
drunk  ;  Pat  had  fallen  and  broken  his  limbs  in  con- 
sequence, and  the  people  must  support  him  through 
his  sickness.  Shaking  his  long  staff  towards  Lane's 
tavern,  he  broke  forth  in  a  torrent  of  fierce  invectives. 
As  he  saw  Skillott  taking  notes  of  his  remarks,  he 
turned  his  attention  to  that  functionary,  and  lashed 
him  in  unmeasured  terms.  He  then  announced  that 
a  temperance  meeting  would  be  held  in  the  Hall  that 
evening,  to  be  addressed  by  a  reformed  drunkard, 
and  urged  all  to  attend.  Then  breaking  out  in  the 
familiar  air  of  "  Come  to  the  Temperance  Hall,"  he 
passed  through  the  crowd  and  up  the  street.  Upon 
the  steps  of  the  " Home"  and  so  through  the  whole 
village,  he  went  with  staff  and  song,  and  impassioned 
harangue,  heralding  the  meeting  and  denouncing  the 
rum  traffic.  His  vast  muscular  strength  and  glisten- 
ing eye  deterred  the  enraged  dealers'  from  an  open 
attack  upon  his  person. 


MORTIMER   HUDSON    SIGNING   THE    PLEDGE. 


CHAPTER   XXIY. 

WASHINGTONIANISM THE   OLD  MAN'S   STOBY. 

THE  tide  of  the  new  movement  was  rising  with  un- 
exampled velocity  and  power.  From  the  very  dens 
of  the  enemy,  the  "Washingtonians  came  forth,  fully 
armed  and  fired  with  enthusiastic  zeal.  From  the 
ranks  of  the  enslaved,  reformed  men  came  forth  and 
became  for  the  time  the  standard-bearers  of  the  re- 
form. The  song,  and  the  rude  though  earnest  appeal, 
with  the  dark  details  of  personal  experience  in  the 
thraldom  of  ruin,  assumed  a  deep  and  thrilling  inter- 
est, and  crowds  flocked  to  hear  the  story.  From  gut- 
ter, hovel,  den,  and  steaming  pit,  men  came  forth  to 
soberness  and  honor.  In  every  community  the  name 
was  kindled.  Angels  were  found  sitting  at  the  graves 
of  men's  drunkenness,  and  as  the  stone  was  rolled 
away,  the  living  came  forth  to  happiness  and  home. 
The  land  was  filled  with  rejoicing.  The  wife  and 
mother  watched  the  commotion  with  prayers  and 
hopeful  tears,  and  the  citizen  looked  bewildered.  An 
angel  was  in  the  waters  and  lepers  were  healed. 
Many  believed  that  intemperance  was  to  be  driven  at 
once  from  the  land.  The  rumsellers — such  as  con- 
tinued in  the  business  —  became  more  reckless  and 
desperate  than  ever,  and  only  rejoiced  when  those  who 


282  MINNIE   HERMON. 

had  taken  the  pledge  were  decoyed  again  to  destruc- 
tion. 

Oakvale  was  alive  with  the  excitement,  and  its 
dealers  boiling  with  fear  and  rage.  The  Hermit  had 
planted  some  tremendous  blows  upon  the  enemy,  and 
htid  snatched  away  many  of  their  best  customers. 
His  announcement  of  the  evening  meeting  had  in- 
creased the  interest  to  the  highest  degree,  and  before 
dark,  crowds  of  people  were  pouring  down  the  streets 
to  the  Hall. 

Groups  of  people  gathered  on  the  steps  of  the  tav- 
erns and  saloons,  and  were  drinking  in  the  bar-rooms 
to  keep  their  courage  up.  Now  and  then  a  drunken 
man  came  reeling  out  of  them,  and  the  coarse  jest  and 
boisterous  laugh  told  the  character  of  the  parties. 

Monsieur  Ladeaux,  an  old  Frenchman,  kept  one  of 
the  most  frequented  dram-shops  in  Oakvale.  Every- 
thing around  the  establishment  was  arranged  admira- 
bly to  render  it  attractive  and  inviting.  Politicians 
made  the  "  Alhambra "  their  nightly  resort,  and  at 
its  bar  the  extremes  of  society  met  in  the  fraternal 
circle  of  tippling. 

Our  readers  may  have  seen  the  counterpart  of 
Monsieur.  He  was  stoutly  built-  and  fleshy,  his  neck 
thick,  features  coarse,  heavy  and  sensual,  person 
stooping,  and  a  shambling,  leaning  gait,  like  a  man 
looking  for  a  penny  on  the  walk.  His  soul  was  not 
like  other  men's  souls.  He  was  as  senseless,  save  in 
his  pocket,  as  the  pavement  on  which  he  trod.  But 
two  emotions  —  those  of  avari'ce  and  gluttony  —  ever 


WASIHNGTONTANISM.  283 

stirred  his  sluggish  nature.  ^  Honor,  conscience  or 
pride,  he  was  an  utter  stranger  to.  He  deemed  men, 
women,  and  children,  his  legitimate  prey.  Whatever 
he  could  do  without  fear  of  fine,  imprisonment  or 
hanging,  he  would  do  for  money.  Had  murder 
been  licensed,  he  would  as  readily  butcher  all  who 
crossed  his  threshold.  No  good  interest  in  communi- 
ity  ever  received  his  attention,  countenance,  or  a  far- 
thing of  support.  He  was  never  known  to  exhibit 
feeling,  save  when  his  interest  was  assailed.  The  boy 
that  reached  tiptoe  for  the  cent's  worth  of  beer,  was 
just  as  welcome  a  customer  as  the  citizen  of  mature 
years.  Had  every  one  who  went  out  from  his  rooms 
fell  dead  in  the  street,  his  regrets  would  have  been  in 
proportion  to  his  loss  of  custom.  Moral  influences 
fell  as  inefficiently  from  his  mail  of  animal  selfish- 
ness, as  they  would  from  the  Pagan  idol  of  wood  or 
stone. 

Among  those  who  were  drinking  on  the  evening  of 
the  meeting,  was  a  young  man  of  about  twenty-three 
years.  He  was  a  mechanic  in  the  place,  and  without 
friends.  None  had  yielded  more  blindly  —  madly  to 
the  bowl,  or  plunged  more  deeply  into  its  many  in- 
iquities. With  quick  and  pungent  wit,  a  voice  of 
wondrous  sweetness  and  compass,  and  a  power  of 
mimicry  unsurpassed,  he  became  the  ruling  spirit  of 
the  drunken  revel.  His  liquor  cost  him  nothing.  A 
song,  or  a  speech,  or  a  story,  would  always  bring  both 
applause  and  liquor.  There  was  quite  a  competition 

among  the  dram-shops  for  his  presence, 
12 


284:  MINNIE   HERMOST. 

The  youth  was  but  a  wreck.  His  potations  were 
deep  and  incessantly  poured  down.  His  face  was  of 
a  fiery  red,  and  his  long  hair  coarse  and  matted.  A 
soiled  and  broken-clown  hat  sat  back  upon  his  head 
with  a  dare-devil  manner,  his  pantaloons  begrimmed 
with  dirt,  and  his  boots  running  over  at  the  heels,  and 
full  of  holes,  the  bare,  stockingless  feet  exposed  to  the 
weather.  The  ragged  coat  was  buttoned  to  the  throat, 
indicating  a  lingering  pride  which  tried  to  conceal 
the  utter  absence  of  a  shirt.  A  dirty  comforter  was 
wound  loosely  around  the  neck,  and  the  ends  tucked 
under  the  coat.  The  people  in  the  saloon  had  just 
put  him  upon  the  counter,  where  he  was  making  a 
temperance  speech.  His  wit,  inimitable  drollery,  and 
ludicrous  nights  of  burlesque  eloquence,  had  put  the 
crowd  in  a  roar.  Those  present  had  furnished  Gault 
with  a  bottle  of  rum,  and  were  calculating  upon  a 
high  time  at  the  temperance  meeting,  for  he  had 
promised  to  make  a  speech  there.  In  the  height  of 
their  mirth,  Brayton,  Halton,  and  the  Hermit  enter 
ed.  As  many  bombs  would  not  have  produced  & 
greater  impression  upon  the  customers  of  Ladeaux. 

"  Come  down,  John  Gault,  we  want  you  to  go  with 
us.  We  '11  do  you  good." 

"  This  will  do  me  good,  H  -  (hie)  -  Halton."  Gauit 
tipped  up  his  bottle,  his  eye  turning  comically  down 
upon  Ilalton.  Then  thrusting  his  tongue  into  his 
cheek,  and  rolling  one  eye  up  one  way  and  the  other 
another,  a  trick  he  was  familiar  with,  he  assumed  a 
theatrical  attitude,  and  exclaimed  : 


WASHINGTONIANISM.  285 

'  Come  one,  come  all;  this  bar  shall  fly 

From  its  firm  base  as  —  as  SOOP  as  —  hie  -  -  h'i." 

A  few  tittered,  but  bushed  again,  as  tbe  low  and 
thrilling  tones  of  .the  Hermit's  voice  trembled  like 
winning  music  above  the  coarser  sounds.  Gault  stood 
like  one  fascinated  under  the  appeals.  Slowly  the 
extended  arm  and  bottle  lowered  to  the  side,  and  with 
the  other  on  his  hip,  he  stood  leaning  forward  and 
gazing  into  the  eye  of  the  Hermit.  The  latter  had 
extended  his  hand,  and  his  eye  rested  full  and  search  • 
ingly  upon  Gault.  Save  Monsieur  Ladeaux,  all  were 
hushed  as  the  strange  man  plead  with  the  drunkard. 
There  was  a  tender  melancholy  in  his  tones  which 
charmed  the  roughest  listener.  Gault  was  as  com- 
pletely in  his  power  as  if  bound  by  a  spell. 

"  Lost !  "  he  exclaimed,  with  a  sigh,  and  plunged 
forward  into  the  arms  of  the  Hermit. 

"  Saved  !  John  Gault !  We  will  snatch  you  from 
the  very  jaws  of  the.  enemy.  Your  friends  are  not 
here,  John  Gault.  Go  with  us.  We  bid  you  come 
5fou  shall  sit  among  the  redeemed,  clothed  and  in 
your  right  mind.  Come  !  " 

Gault  trembled  from  head  to  foot.  Skillott  ven- 
tured to  question  this  summary  way  of  forcing  men 
into  the  temperance  movement.  With  a  gesture  of 
scorn,  not  unmixed  with  dignity,  the  Hermit  waved 
the  counselor  back,  and  again  urged  Gault  to  go  with 
them.  Bray  ton  stepped  forward  and  took  him  by  the 
arm.  While  he  was  hesitating,  the  Hermit  sang  a 
verse — 


286  MINNIE    IIKRMON. 

Sadly  icy  wife  bowed  her  beautiful  head, 

Long  ago,  long  ago  ; 
Oh,  how  I  wept  when  I  heard  she  was  dead, 

Long  ago,  long  ago  ; 

She  was  an  angel,  my  joy  and  my  pride ; 
Vainly  to  save  me  from  ruin  she  tried ; 
Poor  broken  heart !  it  was  well  that  she  died, 

Long  ago,  long  ago. 

The  words,  feathered  with  plaintive  melody  most 
sweetly  sung,  went  to  the  heart  of  Gault.  His  young 
and  lovely  wife  had  just  gone  to  her  pauper  grave, 
injured  and  broken-hearted,  leaving  him  alone  to  go 
more  rapidly  down  the  road  to  ruin.  A  tear  swam 
upon  his  red  lid,  and  dropped  upon  the  cheek.  An- 
other and  another  followed.  Gault  was  conquered. 
Clutching  the  Hermit  firmly  by  the  arm,  he  yielded 
to  his  guidance,  and  with  Brayton  and  Halton  be- 
hind, passed  out  of  the  Alhambra. 

The  more  ignorant  expected  fun  ;  but  Skillott  saw 
the  strong  influence  at  work  upon  the  drunkards,  and 
was  troubled.  In  his  political  dreaming,  he  had  cal- 
culated much  upon  their  cheaply  bought  suffrages. 

As  the  four  entered  the  Hall,  they  found  every  part 
of  it  densely  packed  with  people,  and  the  throng  still 
pouring  into  the  vestibule.  As  dense  as  was  the 
crowd,  it  opened  both  ways  before  the  Hermit  and 
his  long  staff,  and  with  Gault,  Halton  and  Brayton 
in  his  wake,  that  personage  strode  down  towards  the 
platform.  Gault  shrank  back,  however,  and  Halton 
procured  him  a  seat  and  stood  beside  him.  Large 
drops  of  sweat  stood  thickly  on  Gault's  face,  and  he 


WASHINGTONIANISM.  287 

avoided  every  eye  as  much  as  possible,  where  he  sat. 
A  sea  of  heads  was  constantly  turning,  towards  the 
doors  fo  catch  sight  of  the  speakers.  Elder  Snyder 
stole  in  around  the  wall  aisle,  and  took  his  seat  be- 
hind a  pillar  under  the  gallery,  as  if  doubtful  of  the 
propriety  of  attending  such  a  meeting.  For  an  hour 
the  crowd  continued  to  pour  in,  still  finding  room  to 
stand.  In  the  corner  seats  were  a  number  of  rum- 
sellers  and  their  friends,  they  having  heard  that  John 
Gault  was  to  carry  a  bottle  and  address  the  meeting. 
The  more  intelligent  ones  looked  grave,  the  brutes 
scowled,  and  the  simple  put  on  a  knowing  leer,  try- 
ing to  express  their  contempt  of  the  whole  affair. 

Two  men,  at  last,  came  in,  and  with  much  difficulty 
reached  the  platform.  All  eyes  were  fixed  upon 
them,  and  that  immense  audience  was  hushed  into 
stillness. 

The  men  were  unlike  in  appearance  —  the  one  be- 
ing short,  thick-set  in  his  build,  the  other  tall  and  ex- 
ceedingly well-formed.  The  younger  had  the  manner 
and  address  of  a  clergyman,  a  full,  round  face,  and  a 
quiet,  good-natured  look,  as  he  leisurely  glanced 
around  upon  the  audience. 

But  the  interest  all  centered  on  the  old  man.  His 
broad,  de'ep  chest  and  unusual  height  looked  giant- 
like as  he  swayed  slowly  up  the  aisle.  His  hair  was 
white,  his  brow  deeply  seamed  with  furrows,  and 
around  his  handsome  mouth  lines  of  decision,  thought 
and  sadness.  His  eye  was  black  and  restless,  and 
kindled  for  the  moment  as  the  tavern-keeper  nearest 


288  MINNIE    HERMON. 

him  uttered  a  low  jest  aloud.  His  lips  were  com- 
pressed, and  a  crimson  flush  came  upon  and  went 
from  his  pale  cheek.  There  was  a  wide  scar  over  the 
right  eye. 

The  younger  finally  arose  and  asked  if  there  was  a 
clergyman  present  who  would  open  with  prayer. 
Not  one  answered  to  the  invitation.  The  rurnsellers 
ventured  a  titter.  This  started  the  Hermit.  Advan- 
cing to  the  front  of  the  stage,  he  looked  steadily  and 
not  unkindly  around  over  the  audience,  finally  resting 
a  less  winning  gaze  upon  the  corner  where  the  deal- 
ers had  centered.  Stretching  "his  long  arm  out  over 
the  people,  he  broke  forth  in  an  invocation  which  was 
as  appropriate  as  forcible  and  solemn.  At  its  close, 
he  sang  an  ode  as  none  other  could  have  sung  it.  Its 
melting  tenderness  stole  over  the  audience  like  a 
dream,  and  prepared  them  for  the  truths  to  follow. 

The  younger  speaker  made  but  a  short  address  — 
calm,  dignified  and  appropriate,  setting  forth  the 
claims  of  the  Washingtonian  cause,  and  urging  all 
who  wished  well  to  humanity  to  join  in  it.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  meeting,  he  hoped  to  see  the  name 
of  every  one  present  appended  to  the  pledge.  As  he 
concluded,  he  called  upon  any  one  present  to  speak — 
hop^d  to  hear  remarks  for  or  against. 

"  Shut  up,  you  old  nuisance,"  muttered  Jud  Lane, 
as  old  Barney  punched  him  to  get  up. 

"Give  'em  the  dingbats  —  swear  at  'em,  Jud," 
whispered  Barney. 

All  eyes  were  turned  in  another  direction.     The 


WASHESTGTONIANISM.  289 

pastor  under  the  gallery  arose  with  more  than  ordina- 
ry dignity,  and  attacked  the  positions  of  the  speaker, 
lie  used  the  current  arguments  of  those  opposed  to 
the  temperance  measures,  and  concluded  .by  denoun- 
cing those  engaged  in  them,  as  meddlesome  fanatics, 
having  zeal  without  knowledge  —  men  who  wished  to 
break  up  the  time-honored  usages  of  good  society, 
take  the  interests  of  the  moral  world  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  church,  and  injure  the  business  of  a  very  large 
class  of  worthy  and  respectable  people.  Simultane- 
ously the  dealers  and  their  friends,  and  the  aristocra- 
cy of  the  village  applauded  the  pastor.  As  he  took 
his  seat  he  put  his  hair  back  with  dignity,  and  looked 
over  the  room,  as  much  as  to  say,  "  nothing  for  me  to 
make  that  speech  !  "  The  feeling  was  evidently  turn- 
ing against  the  strangers,  for  Snyder  had  cunningly 
shaped  his  remarks  to  undermine  the  public  confi- 
dence in  their  character  as  "  public  teachers."  The 
very  fact  that  one  of  them  had  been  a  drunkard  was 
against  him.  And  besides,  a  prayer  had  been  made 
by  one  whom  he  did  not  recognize  as  a  minister  of 
God.  He  cautioned  the  people  against  being  led 
astray  by  fanatics  and  false  teachers. 

The  Hermit's  eye  flashed,  and  with  a  pale  lip  he 
grasped  "his  staff  fiercely.  Slowly  rising  to  his  full 
height,  he  pointed  towards  where  Elder  Snyder  had 
drawn  his  cloak  around  him,  and  broke  out  in  a  tor- 
rent of  withering  denunciation.  So  sudden  and 
sweeping  was  the  onslaught  that  the  more  tim- 
id had  hardly  time  to  be  shocked  before  the  last 


290  MENTSTIE    HERMON. 

barb  had  been  sped.  The  manner  of  the  man  was 
terrible . 

"  False  teacher  !  "  hissed  the  Hermit  between  his 
clenched  teeth,  yet  plainly  heard  in  every  part  of  the 
hall.  "  False  teacher !  and  this  from  one  who  turned 
bis  own  erring  ones  from  his  hearth,  and  sent  them 
away  with  curses.  One  who  himself  taught  his  chil- 
dren to  sip  the  accursed  poison !  One  who  has  set  an 
example  which  has  sent  his  own  parishioners  to  the 
grave  and  to  perdition  !  One  who,  by  the  grave  of 
two  who  died  broken-hearted,  still  advocates  the  foul 
sin  which  destroyed  them.  One  who  prays  for  the 
poor  and  the  needy,  and  at  the  same  time  casts  his 
influence  for  that  which  robs  the  poor  and  needy,  and 
sends  out  the  children  to  beg  for  bread.  One  who 
would  hedge  Heaven  against  us  because  we  have 
once  sinned  as  he  is  this  day  influencing  others  to  sin. 
One  whose  gospel  never  says  to  the  returning  peni- 
tent, '  Go  and  sin  no  more  ! '  One  who  dishonors 
his  profession  by  preaching  our  land  full  of  paupers 
and  felons,  our  graves  full  of  dead  men,  and  hell  with 
souls  that  are  damned  !  Go  !  false  one  !  and  preach 
the  gospel  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and  a  judg- 
ment to  come,  or  else  the  viper  shall  return  to  sting 
the  hand  that  sends  it  forth,  and  the  vultures  shall 
pick  the  bones  of  him  who  stays  the  chariot  wheels 
of  the  Lord  !  " 

A  chill  crept  over  the  whole  audience.  The  man- 
ner of  the  speaker  was  even  more  bold  and  startling 
than  his  words.  With  his  eye  full  upon  the  pastor, 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STORY.  291 

he  slowly  retreated  to  the  back  of  the  stage  and  took 
his  seat. 

During  the  assault,  the  old  man  on  the  platform 
had  watched  the  hermit  with  a  kindling  eye,  leaning 
forward  to  catch  every  word.  As  he  arose,  his  form, 
as  tall  as  the  Hermit's,  and  better  proportioned,  tow- 
ered in  most  'commanding  dignity,  and  his  chest 
swelled  as  he  inhaled  his  breath  through  his  thin  nos- 
trils. There  was  something  grand  and  inspiring  in 
the  appearance  of  the  old  man  as  he  stood  looking 
upon  the  audience,  his  teeth  hard  shut,  and  a  silence 
like  that  of  death  throughout  the  Hall.  He  bent  his 
gaze  full  upon  Hermon,  who  sat  immediately  before 
him,  and  as  his  eye  lingered  for  a  moment,  the  scar 
upon  his  forehead  grew  an  angry  red,  and  from  be- 
neath his  shaggy  brows  his  eye  glowed  with  meaning 
fire.  Hermon  quailed  under  the  gaze.  He  at  last 
commenced,  in  low  and  tremulous  tones.  There  waa 
a  depth  in  this  voice  —  a  thrilling  sweetness  and  pa- 
thos, which  riveted  every  heart  in  the  Hall  before  the 
first  period  had  been  rounded.  Immediately  under 
the  platform  and  a  little  in  advance  of  the  speaker, 
sat  young  Mortimer  Hudson,  manifesting  an  interest 
which  he  had  never  before  exhibited  at  a  temperance 
meeting.  , 

"  If  I  were  a  stranger  in  your  village,  I  should  dare 
to  call  you  friends.  As  I  once  lived  in  your  midst,  I 
trust  I  may  call  you  all  so." 

There  was  a  sensation,  and  whispered  inquiries  of 
"  Who  can  it  be  ? "  With  a  thrilling  depth  of  voice. 


292  MINNIE   HERMON. 

the  speaker  locked  his  hands  together,  and  contin- 
ued : 

"A  new  star  has  arisen,  and  there  is  hope  in  the 
dark  night  which  hangs  like  a  pall  of  gloom  over  the 
country.  O  God  !  thou  who  lookest  with  compas- 
eion  upon  the  most  erring  of  earth's  frail  children,  1 
thank  thee  that  a  brazen  serpent  has  been  lifted,  upon 
which  the  drunkard  can  look  and  be  healed ;  that  a 
beacon  has  burst  out  upon  the  darkness  which  sur- 
rounds him,  which  shall  guide  back  to  honor  and  to 
Heaven,  the  bruised  and  weary  wanderer." 

Strange,  the  power  in  human  voices  !  The  speak- 
er's was  low  and  measured  ;  but  a  tear  trembled  in 
every  tone,  and  before  they  knew  why,  tears  were 
dropping  in  the  audience  like  rain-drops.  The  old 
man  brushed  one  from  his  own  eye  and  continued  : 

"  Men  and  Christians  !  You  have  just  heard  that  I 
may  be — probably  am — a  vagrant  and  fanatic.  I 
am  not.  As  God  knows  my  own  sad  heart,  I  came 
here  to  do  good.  The  graves  of  my  kindred  arc  here, 
My  childhood  was  spent  here.  My  manhood  was  de- 
stroyed here.  Hear  me  and  be  just. 

"  I  am  an  old  man,  standing  alone  at  the  end  of 
life's  journey.  There  is  deep  sorrow  in  my  heart,  and 
bitter  tears  in  my  eyes.  I  have  journeyed  over  a 
dark,  beaconiess  ocean,  and  all  life's  bright  hopes  have 
been  wrecked.  I  am  without  friends,  home  or  kin- 
dred, on  earth,  and  look  with  eager  longing  for  the 
re»t  of  the  night  of  death  —  without  friends,  kindred 
or  home  !  It  was  not  so  once  1  " 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STOKY.  293 

No  one  could  withstand  the  touching  pathos  of  the 
old  man.  The  audience  was  under  his  control. 

"  No,  my  friends,  it  was  not  so  once.  Away  over 
the  dark  and  treacherous  waste  which  has  wrecked 
all  my  hopes,  there  is  the  blessed  light  of  happiness 
and  home.  I  grasp  again  convulsively  for  the  shrines 
of  the  household  idols  that  once  were  mine,  now 
mine  no  more." 

The  speaker  seemed  looking  away  through  space 
upon  some  bright  vision,  his  lips  apart,  and  his  finger 
extended.  The  audience  involuntarily  turned  in  the 
direction  where  the  speaker  was  looking,  as  if  ex- 
pecting to  see  some  shadow  called  before  them. 

"  I  once  had  a  mother.  With  her  old  heart  crushed 
with  sorrows,  she  went  down  to  her  grave.  I  once 
had  a  wife  ;  a  fair,  angel-hearted  creature  as  ever 
smiled  in  an  earthly  home.  Her  eye  was  as  mild  as 
a  summer  sky,  and  her  heart  as  faithful  and  true  as 
ever  cherished  a  husband's  love,  or  clung  to  him 
when  fallen.  Her  blue  eye  grew  dim  as  floods  of 
sorrow  washed  out  its  brightness,  and  the  loving  heart 
I  wrung  until  every  fibre  was  rudely  broken.  I  once 
had  a  babe,  a  sweet,  tender  blossom  ;  but  these  handa 
destroyed  it,  and  it  lives  with  One  who  loveth  chil- 
dren. I  once  had  a  noble,  a  brave  and  beautiful 
boy  ;  but  he  was  driven  out  from  the  ruins  of  his 
childhood  home,  and  I  know  not  if  he  yet  lives. 

"  Do  not  be  startled,  friends  ;  I  am  not  a  murderer 
in  the  common  acceptation  of  the  term.  I  am  guilty 
of  much,  but  there  is  light  in  my  evening  sky.  A 


294  MLNNIK    HEKMON. 

spirit  mother  rejoices  over  the  return  of  her  prodigal, 
son.  The  wife  smiles  upon  him  who  again  turns 
back  to  virtue  and  honor.  The  angel  child  visits  me 
at  nightfall,  and  I  feel  the  hallowing  touch  of  a  tiny 
palm  upon  my  fevered  cheek.  My  brave  boy,  if  liv- 
ing, would  forgive  the  sorrowing  old  man  for  the 
treatment  that  drove  him  out  into  the  world,  and  the 
blow  which  maimed  him  for  life.  God  Almighty  in 
Heaven  !  forgive  me  for  the  ruin  I  have  brought  upon 
me  and  mine  !  " 

The  speaker  again  wiped  a  tear  from  his  eye.  Mor- 
timer Hudson  watched  him  with  a  strange  intensity, 
and  with  a  countenance  pale  with  strong  and  unusual 
emotion. 

"  I  once  was  a  fanatic,  and  madly  followed  the  ma- 
lign light  which  led  me  to  ruin.  I  was  a  fanatic 
when  I  sacrificed  my  wife,  children,  happiness  and 
hope  to  the  accursed  demon  of  the  bowl.  I  was  a 
fanatic  when  I  broke  the  heart  and  sent  to  the  grave 
the  gentle  being  whom  I  injured  so  deeply. 

"  I  was  a  drunkard  !  From  respectability  and  op- 
ulence, I  plunged  into  degradation  and  poverty.  I 
dragged  my  family  down  with  me.  For  years  I  saw 
my  wife's  cheek  pale,  and  her  step  grow  weary.  I 
left  her  alone  amid  the  wreck  of  her  home  idols,  and 
rioted  at  the  tavern.  She  never  complained,  though 
she  and  the  children  went  hungry  for  bread. 

"  One  New  Year's  night,  I  left  the  midnight  revel 
at  the  tavern,  for  the  hut  where  charity  had  given  us 
a  shelter.  Deeply  intoxicated,  I  reached  about  half 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STORY.  29.5 

the  distance,  and  yielded  to  the  intense  cold  of  the 
storm,  and  lay  down  upon  the  drifts,  with  the  slum- 
ber of  drunkenness  and  death  upon  me.  My  wife, 
a  frail,  poorly  clad  creature  had  become  alarmed 
about  me,  and  ventured  out  in  the  storm  to  seek  me. 
She  found  me,  insensible  with  cold.  She  stretched 
her  body  upon  mine,  and  with  her  own  heat  warmed 
the  chilling  blood  in  my  veins,  and  saved  me  from 
freezing  and  death.  Struggling  until  she  raised  me 
to  my  feet,  she  started  me  home,  bidding  me  rest  not 
for  life  until  I  reached  home.  Arriving  there,  I 
found  the  babe  wailing  in  the  arms  of  the  boy,  who 
was  vainly  attempting  to  hush  it.  I  felt  the  demon 
in  every  vein,  and  snatching  it  from  his  arms  with  a 
curse,  I  hurled  it  upon  the  coals !  " 

The  speaker  buried  his  face  in  his  hands,  and  the 
audience  were  wound  up  to  breathless  excitement. 

"At  the  moment  the  mother  came  in,  and  like  a  ti 
gress,  sprang  and  snatched  the  child  from  its  tortures 
Its  agonizing  shrieks  will  linger  in  my  ear  while  1 
live  !  I  demanded  food.  Mary  turned  her  gaze  sad- 
ly upon  me,  the  tears  falling  fast  upon  her  cheek. 

"  '  VTe  have  no  food,  James.  And,  merciful  heav- 
en !  must  murder  be  added  to  starvation  f ' 

"That  sad,  pleading  face,  the  streaming  eyes  and 
the  wail  of  the  babe  maddened  me  ;  and  I  —  yes,  I— 
struck  her  a  fearful  blow  in  the  face,  and  she  fell  for- 
ward upon  the  hearth.  The  furies  of  hell  boiled  in 
my  bosom  with  deeper  intensity  as  I  felt  that  I  had 
committed  a  wrong.  I  had  ne  er  struck  Mary  be- 


296  MINNIE    HERMON. 

fore ;  but  now  some  terrible  impulse  bore  nje  on; 
and  I  stooped  down  as  well  as  I  could  in  my  drunk- 
en state,  and  clenched  both  hands  in  her  hair. 

"  '  God  of  mercy,  James ! '  exclaimed  my  wife,  as 
she  looked  up  in  my  fiendish  countenance.  '  You 
will  not  kill  us.  Poor  Willie,  he  must  die,'  and  she 
tried  to  soothe  the  little  sufferer  in  its  cruel  pains. 
I  could  not  bear  the  shrieks  of  the  child,  and  became 
furious.  Dragging  her  to  the  door  and  lifting  the 
latch,  the  wind  burst  in  with  a  cloud  of  snow.  With 
the  yell  of  a  fiend,  I  still  dragged  her  on  and  hurled 
her  out  into  the  darkness  and  the  storm.  With  a  wild 
ha  !  ha !  I  closed  the  door  and  turned  the  button,  her 
pleading  moans  mingling  with  the  wail  of  the  blast, 
and  the  quick,  gasping  shrieks  of  the  babe.  But  the 
work  was  riot  complete.  I  turned  to  the  bed  where 
my  son  had  hidden,  and  dragged  him  out.  He  clung 
to  my  knees,  and  called  me  by  a  name  I  was  unwor- 
thy to  bear.  My  eye  rested  upon  the  axe  in  the  cor- 
ner, and  I  grasped  it  with  the  determination  to  kill 
him.  The  boy  saw  the  act  and  sprang  for  a  window, 
where  a  blanket  was  the  only  protection  from  the 
storm.  As  he  sprang  out,  the  blow  I  leveled  at  his 
head  fell  upon  the  sill,  and  severed  his  hand  from 
the  arm !  " 

The  speaker  ceased  a  moment,  and  buried  his  face 
in  his  hands,  as  if  to  shut  out  some  fearful  dream, 
and  his.  deep  chest  heaved  like  a  stormy  sea.  Mor- 
timer Hudson  had  partially  arisen,  his  countenance 
pale  and  ghastly,  and  he  sobbing  with  startling  emo- 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STORY.  297 

tion.  The  old  man  shook  as  with  an  ague  chill,  and 
again  proceeded : 

.  "  It  was  morning  when  I  awoke,  and  the  storm  had 
ceased,  but  the  cold  was  intense.  I  first  secured  a 
drink  of  water,  and  then  looked  in  the  accustomed 
place  for  Mary.  As  I  missed  her  for  the  first  time, 
a  shadowy  sense  of  some  horrible  nightmare  began 
to  dawn  upon  my  wandering  mind.  I  thought  that  I 
had  dreamed  a  fearful  dream,  and  involuntarily  opened 
the  door  with  a  shuddering  dread.  As  the  door 
opened  the  snow  burst  in,  followed  by  the  fall  of  a  hard 
body  across  the  threshold,  scattering  the  snow,  and 
Striking  the  floor  with  a  sharp,  quick  sound.  My 
'blood  shot  like  red-hot  arrows  through  my  veins,  and 
I  rubbed  my  eyes  to  shut  out  the  light.  It  was  —  it 
—  God,  how  terrible  !  — it  was  my  own  injured  Mary 
and  her  babe,  frozen  to  ice  !  The  ever  true  mother 
had  bowed  herself  over  her  child  to  shield  it,  and 
wrapped  her  own  clothing  around  it,  leaving  her  own 
person  stark  and  bare  to  the  storm.  She  had  placed 
her  hair  over  the  face  of  the  child,  and  the  sleet  had 
frozen  it  to  the  white  cheek  The  frost  was  white  in 
its  half-open  eyes,  and  upon  its  tiny  fingers.  I  know 
not  what  became  of  my  boy." 

Again  the  old  man  bowed  his  head  and  wept,  and 
all  in  the  house,  Jud  Lane  excepted,  wept  with  hi  in. 
In  tones  of  low,  and  yet  far-reaching  pathos,  he  con- 
cluded : 

"  I  was  arrested,  and  for  mouths  raved  in  delirium. 
1  was  sent  to  prison  for  ten  years,  but  its  tortures 


298  MINNIE    HKEMON. 

were  nothing  compared  to  those  in  my  own  bosom. 
God  knows  I  am  not  a  fanatic.  I  wish  to  injure 
no  one.  But  while  I  live  let  me  strive  to  warn  others 
not  to  enter  the  path  which  has  been  so  dark  and  fear 
ful  to  me.  I  would  see  my  angel  wife  and  .child  in 
the  better  land,  where,  God  Almighty  be  thanked ! 
no  rum  is  sold,  and  drunkenness  is  not.  If  there  is 
one  here  this  night  who  has  been  as  I  have  been,  let 
me  beseech  him,  as  a  brother  whom  I  love,  by  the 
dark  and  beaconless  past  —  by  all  that  is  yet  left  amid 
the  ruins  of  the  present,  and  all  that  man  can  hope 
for  in  the  future — let  him  come  and  sign  the  pledge. 
He  shall  again  stand  up  in  the  dignity  of  a  freeman, 
be  loved  by  his  family,  respected  again  by  society, 
and  honored  of  God.  Come,  ye  heavy-laden  and  wea- 
ry, sign  and  be  FREE  !  " 

The  old  man  sat  down ;  but  a  spell  as  deep  and 
strange  as  that  wrought  by  some  wizard's  breath, 
rested  upon  the  audience.  Hearts  could  have  been 
heard  to  beat,  and  tears  to  fall.  At  the  invitation  to 
sign  the  pledge,  the  Hermit  stepped  forward  and  sang. 
"When  is  the  time  to  sign."  The  effect  upon  the 
people  was  deepened,  and  as  Halton  and  his  four  com- 
panions stood  up,  side  by  side,  and  with  right  arms 
raised,  followed  with  "  We  're  free  once  more  !  "  the 
people  swayed  and  murmured  as  if  under  a  breath 
of  electricity.  The  men  were  all  well  known,  and  as 
they  now  appeared,  presented  one  of  the  most  elo- 
quent appeals  ever  witnessed  of  the  blessed  effects 
of  the  temperance  reform. 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STOUT.  299 

"  FREE  AGAIN  !  "  shouted  Halton,  his  form  dilating 
I  with  hope  and  pride.  "  Free  again !  Hallelujah  to 
God  !  w.e  're  men  again.  Would  that  all  who  drink 
were  as  we  are." 

"  There  's  a  balm  in  Gilead  arid  a  physician  there. 
The  Lord  is  here  ;  comc;  come  to  the  waters  and  bo 
healed.  Now  is  the  time ! "  Wild  and  thrilling,  the 
searching  tone  of  the  Hermit  reached  over  the  crowd. 

The  old  man  had  stepped  down  in  front  of  the  plat- 
form, where  a  table  and  writing  fixtures  had  been 
placed.  He  was  followed  by  Halton  and  his  compan- 
ions, and  the  Hermit;  the  latter  still  holding  his  long 
staff,  and  his  pale  features  lit  up  with  a  smile  of  lofty 
enthusiasm.  The  speaker  took  the  pledge,  and  asked 
who  would  be  the  first  man  to  put '  his  name  to  the 
"  great  charter  of  freedom.  He  hoped  all  would  do 
it.  The  drunkards  of  the  land  were  looking  to  their 
action  that  night.  Come  !  " 

Young  Hudson  leaped  over  the  railing,  and  eagerly 
snatched  the  pen.  As  he  held  it  a  moment  in  the 
inkstand,  a  tear  fell  from  the  old  man's  eye  upon  the 
paper. 

'•  Sign  it  before  God  !  Sign  it,  young  man.  An- 
gels in  Heaven  would  sign  it.  I  would  write  my 
name  there  ten  thousand  times  in  blood,  if  it  would 
restore  me  the  loved  and  the  lost !  " 

The  young  man.  long  known  as  a  hard  drinker, 
wrote  Mortimei  Hudson  !  The  old  man  looked,  wiped 
his  tearful  eyes,  and  looked  again,  his  countenance 
alternating  with  red  and  deathly  paleness. 


300  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

"  It  is  —  no,  it  cannot  be.  Yet  how  strange  ?  " 
muttered  the  speaker.  "  God  help  me  now  !  "  Cling- 
ing to  the  rail,  he  looked  with  terrible  earnestness 
upon  Hudson,  as  he  slowly  wrote  with  his  left  hand. 
"  Pardon  me,  Sir,  but  that  was  the  name  of  my  boy 
—  it  is  my  own  name." 

Young  Hudson  trembled  from  head  to  foot.  Slow- 
ly raising  his  head,  and  looking  the  old  man  in  the 
face,  he  held  up  the  right  arm  from  which  the  hand 
had  been  severed.  The  two  looked  for  a  moment  into 
each  other's  eyes.  Both  reeled  and  clasped  in  close 
embrace. 

"  My  own  deeply  injured  boy  !  " 

"My  father!" 

Those  were  wo"rds  enough.  Their  s^Js  seemed  to 
grow  and  mingle  into  one,  in  that  long  embrace. 
People  leaped  upon  their  feet  to  catch  a  better  view 
of  the  scene,  every  face  streaming  with  tears. 

"  Let  me  here  thank  God  for  this  great  blessing, 
which  has  gladdened  my  guilt-burdened  soul !  "  ex- 
claimed the  old  man.  Kneeling  where  he  was,  he 
poured  out  his  feelings  in  a  prayer,  which,  once  heard, 
never  could  be  forgotten. 

The  spell  was  complete.  The  aisles  and  all  the 
space  before  the  platform  were  crowded  with  people 
eager  to  sign.  The  Hermit  brushed  a  tear  away,  and 
walked  nervously  backward  and  forward,  striking  his 
staff  sharply  on  the  floor,  while  Halton  leaned  his 
bead  against  the  platform,  and  wept  as  a  strong  man 
weeps  when  overcome.  But  his  tears  were  not  all  bitter 


THE  OLD  MAN'S  STORT.  301 

During  the  commotion  Jud  Lane  had  wormed  his 
way  around  to  where  John  G-ault  had  taken  a  seat, 
and  prevailed  upon  him  to  drink  from  a  bottle  which 
he  had  with  him.  Then  sending  one  of  his  crew  for- 
ward with  the  bottle  to  place  it  upon  the  table  before 
the  p  atforni,  he  offered  G-ault  five  dollars  if  lie  would 
go  and  claim  it.  The  drink  had  made  Gault  himself 
again,  and  he  was  ready  for  the  fun.  Lane  was  mis- 
taken in  the  effect  which  he  supposed  the  bottle  would 
produce.  The  impression  of  the  meeting  had  been 
too  deep  to  be  ridiculed  out  of  the  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple. The  speaker  used  the  circumstance  to  advantage 
against  the  instigators :  it  was  fitting,  he  said,  that 
the  dealers,  or  their  representatives,  [the  bottle  was 
black,]  sho^l  be  present,  dressed  in  appropriate 
mourning  garb. 

The  people  lingered,  loth  to  leave  the  Hall.  Slowly 
working  his  unsteady  course  through  the  ranks  of 
those  who  remained,  John  Gault  was  seen  moving 
towards  the  table. 

"  Make  way !  Make  way  for  John  Gault,"  said 
Halton,  helping  to  open  a  clear  passage  to  the  table. 
With  a  rocking  gait  the  drunkard  walked  up  to  the 
group  around  it,  but  not  to  sign  the  pledge,  as  ex- 
pected. Seizing  the  bottle  by  the  neck,  he  put  it  in 
his  pocket,  and  looking  the  elder  Hudson  cunningly 
in  the  eye,  stammered  : 

"  This  bottle  is  mine.  Render  unto  —  C — sesar  the 
things  that — are  (hie)  Caesar's."  The  rummies  ven- 
tured a  titter,  and,  back  under  the  galleries,  a  faint 


302  MINNIE  HKRMON. 

clapping  of  hands.  Hudson  looked  him  steadily  and 
sadly  in  the  eye,  and  replied  : 

"  True,  John  Gault,  '  and  to  God  the  things  that 
are  God's  ! '  " 

The  effect  was  electrical.  Gault  was  foiled  with 
his  own  weapons,  and  stood  hesitating  what  to  do  or 
say  next.  Hudson  then  appealed  to  him  in  a  manner 
which  drew  tears  from  every  eye.  He  told  Gault  hia 
past  history,  his  degradation,  and  pictured  a  future, 
if  he  would  sign  the  pledge,  which  was  all  bright 
with  hope.  Every  word  told.  The  drunkard  first 
laughed,  then  listened,  grew  sad,  and  finally  wept. 
In  his  rags,  and  reeling,  with  Halton  to  hold  his  hand, 
the  name  was  rudely  written  upon  the  pledge.  As 
he  turned  away  in  the  care  of  Halton  and  Brayton, 
a  poorly  clad  woman  rushed  down  the  aisle,  and  fell 
upon  the  drunkard's  neck. 

"John  G/ault !  —  my  brother!"  she  sobbed,  and 
swooned  in  his  arms.  The  drunkard  and  his  pauper 
sister  were  both  borne  to  the  house  of  Halton,  where 
for  a  week  true  friends  watched  with  Gault  as  he 
raved  in  the  horrible  tortures  of  delirium  tremens. 

During  his  ravings,  the  wretched  man  would  have 
sold  his  soul  for  brandy.  But  his  bedside  and  door 
were  guarded  by  kind  and  faithful  friends. 


LETTIE    FENTON. 


CHAPTEK    XXV. 

HIGH   LIFE. 

FROM  the  commencement  of  our  reform  to  the  pres- 
ent day,  its  opposition  has  been  found  in  the  two  ex- 
tremes of  society.  The  so-called  aristocracy  of  our 
land  has  sneered  at  its  progress,  and  treated  its  claims 
with  undisguised  contempt.  The  rich  and  the  fash 
ionable  have  considered  it  vulgar  to  labor  in  the 
vineyard  of  our  common  humanity,  and  in  the  midst 
of  their  luxuries  have  given  no  thought  to  the  des- 
olations sweeping  around  the  base  of  society.  The 
toilers  of  the  day  have  been  gathered  from  the  middle 
ranks,  as  a  general  thing  —  men  of  honest  hearts  and 
hard  hands  —  men  ardent  in  their  sympathies,  and 
bold  and  upright  in  action 

We  venerate  genuine  aristocracy.  We  love  the 
ring  of  the  true  metal.  Its  sympathies  are  never 
closed  against  the  appeals  of  the  lowly.  There  is  a 
real  polish  —  an  ease  and  gracefulness  in  its  manner, 
and  a  nobility  in  its  action.  It  is  the  ascendancy  of 
Jntellect  and  moral  worth  allied  to  fortune.  It  is  not 
servile  to  superiors,  or  tyrannical  and  insolent  to 
those  beneath.  It  never  answers  the  beggar  with 
a  taunt,  or  stares  coarsely  at  an  humble  garb.  It 


306  MINNIE   HERHON. 

does  not  depend  upon  a  heraldry  of  tinsel.  With  its 
wealth,  there  are  mingled  the  higher  and  nobler  vir- 
tues, which  add  true  and  enduring  luster  to  human 
character. 

,  Our  country  is  cursed  with  a  base  counterfeit.  It 
comes  not  of  old  family  names  or  honors.  It  is  the 
creation  of  a  day,  and  bears  upon  its  ill-fitting  gar- 
ments the  barren  soil  which  gave  it  birth.  It  is  red- 
olent of  the  dunghill.  Without  heart,  brains,  or 
character,  it  thrusts  its  overgrown  and  unwieldy  fists 
into  kids,  and  takes  an  ungainly  stride  into  fashiona- 
ble life.  It  builds  its  claims  upon  the  length  of  its 
purse,  and  seeks  elevation  by  looking  down  upon 
those  less  fortunate  and  silly.  It  has  no  foundation 
but  dollars,  ignorance,  and  arrogant  assumption.  It 
knows  no  way  of  retaining  a  position  but  by  treating 
the  more  humble  with  coarseness  and  contempt.  It 
offers  sickening,  fulsome  incense  to  its  superiors,  and 
heaps  insult  and  wrong  upon  its  so-called  inferiors. 
Its  manners  have  no  more  of  the  grace  of  the  genuine 
article,  than  the  snob  the  bearing  of  the  gentleman. 
It  is  as  much  out  of  place  in  the  drawing-room,  as  an 
ass  in  a  deer-park.  Its  attempts  at  gentility  are  sim- 
ply repulsive.  Its  men  live  and  die,  and  the  world 
is  no  better  for  their  living.  Its  mothers  teach  their 
daughters  to  forget  and  despise  all  things  useful.  Its 
daughters  are  apt  scholars,  and  live  their  worthless 
lives  between  the  piano,  pier  glass,  and  men  as  silly 
as  themselves.  They  thrust  themselves  forward  ae 
specimens  of  high  life,  npon  means  accumulated  by 


HIGH    LIFE.  307 

humble  but  honest  toil.  Their  coat  of  arms  should 
be  the  wash-tub,  brick,  saw,  lap-stone  or  mason's  hod, 
ever  keeping  them  in  mind  of  the  honorable  avoca- 
tions which  gave  them  the  means  to  make  themselves 
the  coarse  and  pitiful  counterfeits  they  are.  More  or 
less  of  this  fungus  is  found  in  every  community 
throughout  the  whole  land. 

Oakvale  had  its  share.  With  the  increase  of  wealth 
and  population  came  the  miserable  element,  which 
knew  of  no  other  mode  of  attracting  attention  than 
that  of  feeling,  and  assuming  to  be,  better  than  all 
else.  Independent  in  means,  and  caring  not  for  the 
common  weal,  it  stood  aloof  from,  or  openly  scorned 
the  temperance  movements.  To  get  drunk  on  wine, 
seemed  one  sure  way  of  creating  a  distinction  between 
them  and  those  who  would  not  drink,  or  who  were 
content  to  imbrute  themselves  upon  vulgar  liquors. 

This  class  of  society  have  been  unfortunate  in  be- 
ing placed  in  a  world  where  they  come  in  rude  con- 
tact with  those  who  toil.  And  when  misfortune  and 
death  sweep  down  the  distinctions  of  earth,  and  con- 
sign the  millionaire  and  the  pauper  to  a  common  level 
and  a  common  home,  the  worms  know  no  distinc- 
tion of  persons.  They  feast  as  heartily  under  the 
towering  marble  as  under  the  rudely-placed  sod  in 
potter's  field.  There  is  a  Heaven  where  the  lowly  are 
crowned  as  proudly  as  the  greatest  of  earth.  The 
fiplend/d  coach,  the  wide  domain,  and  the  swollen 
wealth  pass  not  the  plebeian  turf. 

Great  principles,  in  their  progress,  leave  an  impress 


808  MINNIE   HERMON. 

of  their  true  character.  Side  by  side  their  footsteps, 
evidence  will  arise  upon  either  hand,  remaining  like 
landmarks  to  attest  what  their  influence  has  been. 
Their  effects  upon  the  world  pass  into  history,  and 
remain  forever  as  matters  of  reference. 

The  foot-prints  of  Christianity  can  never  be  oblite- 
rated. Broadly  they  are  beaten  by  the  herald's  sandals 
in  every  clime.  The  blood  of  the  martyr  is  a  record 
which  cannot  be  effaced.  Wherever  the  Christian 
lives,  and  suffers,  and  dies,  the  light  of  Hope  and  Faith 
burns  upward,  and  lights  a  pathway  to  a  better  land. 
The  hope  of  salvation  is  as  steadfast  and  cheering  in 
the  hut  as  in  the  palace. 

Yet  the  great  of  earth  welcomed  not  the  humble 
Nazarene.  They  turned  away  from  the  travel-worn 
and  weary  pilgrim  from  Heaven.  They  saw  not  the 
glitter  of  a  heavenly  scepter  in  his  dust-covered  staff, 
or  angel  retinues  in  his  humble  companions.  And  so 
the  great  and  the  fashionable  —  those  who  looked  for 
a  Saviour  with  bannered  host  and  golden  crown,  gave 
Him  of  Nazareth  a  crown  of  thorns,  and  spiked  the 
manger-born  to  the  cross. 

But  John  preached  the  gospel  which  the  Nazarene 
preached.  He  heralded  not  the  coining  of  one  sur- 
rounded by  the  great  and  princely  of  earth  —  its  po- 
tentates and  nobles  of  renown  and  lordly  mien — a  daz- 
zling crown  upon  his  head,  scepter  in  hand,  armed 
legions  about  him,  and  the  imperial  purple,  —  one 
who  should  move  in  pomp  and  splendor,  and  dispense 
honors  to  the  great.  But  the  dead  should  be  raised, 


HIGH   LIFE.  309 

the  blind  should  see,  devils  should  be  cast  out,  the 
deaf  hear,  the  lame  walk,  the  sorrowing  be  comforted. 
and  the  GOSPEL  BE  PKEACHED  TO  THE  POOR  !  Blessed 
gospel ! 

Humbly,  quietly,  and  unheralded  by  noise  and 
pomp,  the  temperance  reform  made  its  humble  ad- 
vent. It  was  manger-born.  There  was  dust  on  its 
sandals,  and  sadness  upon  its  brow.  It  wept  more 
than  it  smiled.  It  marshaled  not  the  great,  the  rich 
and  the  fashionable — the  titled  aristocracy  of  earth. 
It  came  not  to  give  fame  to  governors,  statesmen^ 
colonels,  or  millionaires.  It  plunged  into  the  more 
humble  strata,  and  commenced  its  holy  mission  of  sa- 
ving humani  ty .  The  dead  were  raised  from  the  graves 
of  their  drunkenness,  the  devils  were  cast  out,  the 
blind  were  made  to  see,  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  lame  to 
walk,  and  its  GOSPEL  PKEACIIED  TO  THE  POOR  !  Bles- 
sed temperance  gospel ! 

Thus  came  our  reform.  The  Pharisees  of  earth 
have  crucified  it.  But  wherever  it  has  been  preached 
the  evidences  of  its  glorious  character  have  been 
thickly  scattered.  They  will  stand  when  all  else  fades. 
Enough  has  already  been  achieved  to  reward  the  toil- 
ers of  the  work  for  an  age  of  effort. 

In  Oakvale,  the  high-life  influences  were  all  leagued 
against  the  reform.  Especially  when  the  drunkards 
burst  from  their  chains  and  sprang  into  the  arena,  did 
they  turn  sneeringly  away.  Halton,  and  a  host  of 
such  men,  had  been  redeemed,  and  their  homes  and 
families  made  blessed,  but  it  mattered  not.  To  go 
18 


#10  MDraiE   HEEMON. 


into  "Washingtonianism  would  be  coming  clown  from 
their  position,  and  becoming  contaminated  by  a  con- 
tact with  the  vulgar.  The  Fenton  family,  especially 
took  no  pains  to  conceal  their  contempt  of  the  meet- 
ings, speakers  and  speeches.  Old  Fenton,  from  being 
a  canal  driver,  had  become  one  of  the  "  upper  ten." 
A  lucky  prize  in  the  lottery  was  the  foundation  of 
his  fortunes.  Subsequent  speculations  had  made  him 
wealthy  ;  and  by  grinding  the  poor  and  "  'breaking 
down  rich"  he  had  retained  his  position  in  a  commu- 
nity where  there  were  enough  to  fawn  and  play  the 
spaniel.  The  Fenton  family  could  not  be  bettered,  in 
their  own  estimation.  At  home,  in  the  street,  or  at 
the  concert,  they  made  a  studied  attempt  to  show  off' 
their  fashionable  ill-breeding.  "When  Minnie  Her- 
mon  called  upon  Lettie  Fenton  to  sign  the  pledge,  sho 
was  answered  with  insult.  She  did  not  associate  with 
poor  and  drunken  people  !  Edwin  Fenton  was  equal 
ly  as  ill  bred  as  his  sister,  when  called  upon  by  Bray 
ton  and  Halton.  They,  the  Fentons,  were  in  the  re- 
ception of  a  great  deal  of  fashionable  company,  and 
it  would  be  vulgar  not  to  furnish  wine  !  It  was  well 
enough  for  drunkards  to  sign  the  pledge  ;  they  were 
weak-minded,  and  needed  its  restraint. 

"  If  such  people  need  restraint,"  retorted  Halton, 
stung  by  young  Fenton's  insulting  remarks,  "  I  know 
of  no  one  a  more  fit  subject  for  the  pledge  than  your- 
self, Mr.  Fentoii.  I  have  been  a  drunkard  ;  but  I  was 
Qrst  a  champagne  drunkard  !  " 

The  shot  told,  and  Fentoii  turned  indignantly  away, 


HIGH   LIFE.  311 

with  the  remark  that  the  fanatics  abused  everybody, 
not  even  excepting  Elder  Snyder.  But  they  were 
vulgar  people.  The  young  fop  drew  on  his  kids,  and 
taking  a  glass  of  wine  from  the  sideboard,  passed  out 
to  call  on  the  ladies  of  his  acquaintance. 

With  but  few  exceptions,  the  reformers  encounter- 
ed the  same  reception  from  the  so-called  "  first  fami- 
lies." The  excitement  was  intense,  and  the  middle 
and  lower  strata  of  society  were  deeply  broken  as  the 
wave  rolled  up  from  the  popular  heart,  and  swept  on- 
ward with  its  freight  of  men  disenthralled.  Every- 
where the  subject  was  talked  over.  As  in  all  other 
phases  of  the  work,  fault-finders  were  plenty ;  and  wise 
ones,  who  saw  danger  and  ruin  to  the  cause  in  the 
headlong  state  of  things.  Even  the  very  fact  that 
Hal  ton  and  his  companions  had  reformed,  was  seized 
upon  and  used  against  the  "Washingtonian  movement. 
High  times  when  old  drunkards  were  to  come  up  out 
of  the  gutter  and  teach  people  temperance !  The  up- 
per class  would  not  be  caught  in  the  wake  of  such 
men.  And  there  the  upper  class  stood,  cold,  stub- 
born, immovable ;  presenting  the  strongest  barrier  be- 
tween the  evil  and  the  reformers,  alternately  frowning 
upon,  openly  abusing,  or  sneering  at  the  eiforts  made 
by  the  working  men  of  the  reform.  They  would  rath- 
er than  not  have  seen  defeat  overwhelm  the  humble 
class  they  despised. 

"  The  impertinent  hussy,"  said  Ellen  Belton,  "  to 
come  here  in  her  every-day  duds,  and  ask  us  to  sign 


312  MINNIE   HERMON. 

the  pledge.  She  ought  to  be  turned  into  the  street 
But  some  people  never  know  their  place." 

"  And  her  father  one  of  the  worst  rumsellers  in 
town,  too !  "  chimed  in  Bell  Belton,  a  younger  sister. 
"  Wonder  she  ain't  ashamed  of  herself.  Better  ask 
him  to  sign  it,  I  should  think,  the  saucy  minx." 

"  And  don't  you  think,  as  sure  as  you  live,  she  went 
to  the  counting-room  and  asked  father  to  sign  it ! " 

"  Bless  me  !  What  impudence  those  people  have. 
Shouldn't  wonder  if  some  old  drunkard  were  next  to 
burn  up  his  distillery  !  " 

"And  Min  Hermon  wants  us  to  go  and  hunt  up  all 
the  miserable  vagabonds  in  town.  I  wish  folks  icould 
mind  their  own  business !  People  like  us  sign  the 
pledge  and  join  a  society  of  vulgar,  drunken  men ! 
Indeed !  "  and  the  indignant  lady  flounced  back  upon 
the  settee,  and  pouted  in  great  anger.  At  dinner  she 
learned  that  Halton  and  Brayton  had  actually  called 
upon  her  father,  and  in  a  lengthy  and  warm  conver- 
sation, dared,  not  only  to  ask  him  to  sign  the  pledge, 
but  to  stop  distilling.  It  was  astonishing  to  what 
lengths  these  miserable  meddlers  would  go.  "  But 
you  did  not  do  it,  Father  ? "  inquiringly  asked  both 
of  the  girls  at  the  same  moment. 

"  Didn't  do  it  ?  Why,  what  are  you  thinking  of? 
You  don't  suppose  1  am  a  fool,  Bell  2  I'll  see  them 
nil  sunk  before  I  will  have  anything  to  do  with  them. 
Stop  my  business,  and  all  to  please  a  set  of  brawling 
fanatic  and  reformed  drunkards.  Ha !  ha !  I  had 


HIGH   LIFE.  313 

ought  to  have  kicked  the  meddlers  out  of  the  office. 
And  to  cap  the  climax,  old  Hermon's  daughter  came 
on  the  same  errand." 

"  Did  you  ever  !  "  exclaimed  the  daughters,  in  con- 
cert.  "  If  that  don't  beat  all !  And  she  came  here 
on  the  same  errand  ;  but  we  gave  her  enough  to  think 
about  a  spell.  I'll  warrant  she  will  not  be  caught 
here  again,"  and  the  queenly  beauty  tossed  her  head 
defiantly. 

In  the  afternoon  young  Fenton  called  upon  the 
Misses  Belton,  and  the  same  matters  were  again  intro- 
duced, and  over  their  wine  they  there  passed  many 
a  slant  at  the  Washingtonians.  The  ladies  laughed 
immoderately  when  Fenton  told  them  that  John  Gault 
was  to  be  sent  out  to  lecture  on  temperance,  and  the 
fop  drank  his  success  in  a  glass  of  wine,  with  the 
remark  that  he  would  be  brought  home  drunk  from 
the  first  tavern  he  stopped  at.  He  did  not  believe 
that  one  of  the  old  soaks  who  had  reformed,  would 
stick  a  fortnight.  But  a  good  many  of  the  young  men 
were  signing  the  pledge.  Old  Hermon's  daughter 
was  busy,  and  many  a  one  did  so  just  on  account  of 
her  good  looks. 

"  Good  looks  !  Humph  !  "  and  Bell  Belton  looked 
in  the  pier  glass  before  her,  with  an  air  of  displeasure. 

"  Good  looking  for  one  of  the  common  people,"  put 
in  Fenton,  fearing  that  he  had  offended  the  proud  and 
jealous  beauty.  The  approaching  evening  party  was 
then  discussed,  and  Fenton  took  his  leave. 

The  "  Arland  House  "  was  one  of  the  most  fash- 


314  MINNIE   HEBMON. 

ionable  in  Oak1?  ale.  It  was  licensed,  and  its  drunk- 
ards never  went  to  the  lock-up.  Those  only  who  reel 
in  rags  and  live  in  huts,  are  put  under  lock  and  key 
for  drinking  a  necessary  beverage.  The  landlord  of 
the  Arland  was  a  short,  thick-set,  grey-haired  man 
of  about  forty  years  of  age,  affable  in  his  manners 
and  attentive  to  his  customers.  A  forced  smile  al  ways 
played  upon  his  countenance,  the  very  foot  print  of 
treachery  and  bad  faith.  He  was  not  one  of  the  ma- 
lignant spirits,  like  Jud  Lane,  or  the  sullen  and  plot- 
ting ones,  like  Herinon  ;  but  he  cared  no  more  for 
those  around  him  than  for  the  horses  in  his  barns. 
He  was  a  jovial,  hale  fellow  well-met,  with  his  com- 
panions, but  as  destitute  of  heart  when  humanity 
plead,  as  the  rock  bathed  in  sunshine.  His  financial 
operations  showed  him  a  rascal  in  the  full  sense  of 
the  word.  Even  a  brother  rumdealer  had  come  under 
his  fleecing  management  to  the  tune  of  three  or  four 
thousand  dollars.  As  one  of  the  officers  of  a  state 
institution,  he  had  plundered  the  state  of  thousands. 
As  a  professed  temperance  landlord  he  had  fleeced 
temperance  people  out  of  a  fine  sum,  and  immediate- 
ly put  in  his  bottles  again  and  became  more  reckless 
than  ever.  Ashly  would  have  sold  rum  with  that 
ever -lurking  smile,  though  an  anthem  of  wailing  went 
up  around  him.  The  same  sneering,  skeptical  smilo 
answered  the  whole  battery  of  all  the  facts,  and  ar- 
guments, and  appeals  which  had  been  brought  out 
in  the  discussion  of  the  reform.  Over  a  tale  of  acci- 
dent and  suffering,  he  would  weep  ;  tell  him  that  an 


HIGH   LIFE.  315 

army  of  drunkards  were  being  damned  around  him, 
and  their  families  hungry  for  bread,  and  the  same 
cold  smile  would  answer  as  in  the  appeal  for  aid. 

There  was  a  fashionable  and  gay  party  in  the  rooms 
of  the  "Arland."  The  sons  and  daughters  of  temper- 
ance people  even,  were  assembled  at  the  dance.  The 
better  class,  so  called,  of  young  men,  were  there.  The 
wine  went  round,  and  all  were  merry.  The  Wash- 
ingtonian  matters,  now  everywhere  the  absorbing  top- 
ic, were  then  discussed,  and  many  a  witty  remark  was 
made  and  laughed  over.  As  the  evening  wore  away 
the  flow  of  mirth  increased ;  and  at  the  table,  for  fash- 
ionable people,it  was  uproarious.  Young  Fenton  was 
running  over  with  good  feeling,  and  Bell  Belton's  sal- 
lies sparkled  like  the  champagne  she  had  drunk  so 
freely  of.  The  manners,  stories,  and  expressions  of 
the  reformers,  were  all  used  with  effect,  and  Fenton, 
with  a  false  rig,  gave  a  striking  representation  of  the 
Hermit,  as  he  appeared  upon  the  stand.  Bell  Belton, 
dressed  as  Minnie  Hermon,  passed  round  the  room 
with  a  champagne  bottle  and  wine-glass,  soliciting 
signers  to  the  pledge.  They  had  great  glee  over  the 
term  "  upper  crust,"  as  used  by  Halton.  An  im- 
mense chicken  pie  had  been  prepared,  with  an  upper 
crust  ludicrously  thick.  At  the  head  of  the  table,  a 
small  banner  had  been  placed  upon  a  walking  stick 
stuck  in  a  demijohn,  labeled  "  high  life."  Under  the 
relaxing  power  of  wine  there  was  many  a  thing  said 
and  done,  which  "  vulgar  "  people  in  the  lower  walka 
vvould  have  blushed  to  do. 


316  MINNIE   HEEMON. 

"Now  for  drawing  a  picter"  shouted  young  Fenton 
quoting  the  words  and  pronunciation  of  Halton  ar 
used  in  his  rugged  but  stirring  appeals.  He  en 
tered  the  room  with  a  hand-sled  which  he  had  found 
in  the  hall  below,  and,  passing  round  the  room,  in- 
vited all  to  ride.  "  It  is  hard  sleddin',''  again  quo- 
ting Halton,  "but  the  people  are  moving,  and  we 
must  clear  the  track.  Who  takes  the  first  train 
through  ?  Front  seats  reserved  for  the  ladies !  " 

"Wine  had  made  the  impulsive  Bell  Belton  bold, 
and  she  promptly  took  her  seat  upon  the  hand-sled. 
One  of  the  company  placed  a  bottle  upon  the  sled 
for  steam,  and  another  gave  her  a  walking  stick  to 
scull  with.  Some  one  shouted  "All  aboard !  "  and 
rang  the  waiter's  bell,  and  Fenton  started,  amid  the 
wild  mirth  of  the  whole  party,  "  drawing  a  picter," 
as  he  often  announced,  round  and  round  the  ball- 
room, stopping  often  to  "  wood  up,"  as  he  expressed 
it,  when  drinking  from  the  bottle  upon  the  sled.  So- 
ber people,  viewing  the  scene,  would  have  blushed  foi 
shame.  Bell  Belton  actually  reeled  upon  the  sled 
and  but  for  assistance,  would  have  fallen  upon  the 
floor.  Her  cheeks  were  repulsively  red,  her  eyes 
glassy,  and  her  usually  brilliant  features  wreathed  in 
the  sickly  leer ,  of —  drunkenness  !  But  the  mirth 
grew  furious,  and  not  until  Fenton  gave  out  from  ex- 
haustion, was  the  repulsive  spectacle  ended.  The 
landlord  of  the  Arland  had  seen  the  whole  from  the 
door,  and  turned  away  with  a  more  than  usually 
broad  smile,  for  he  hated  both  the  Belton  and  Fenton 


HIGH   LIFE.  317 

families,  and  be  knew  that  such  conduct  would  strike 
keenly  at  home. 

At  a  late  hour,  the  party  at  the  Arland  broke  up. 
A  four-horse  sleigh  bad  been  chartered  to  bring  in 
and  carry  home  the  company.  After  much  trouble 
and  confusion,  the  village  portion  of  the  party  was 
collected  in  the  sleigh.  Young  Fenton  was  the  last 
in,  with  a  huge  piece  of  cheese  in  one  hand,  and  a 
half-emptied  bottle  in  the  other.  He  reeled,  but  was 
witty  still,  and  his  wild  shouting  pealed  out  in  the 
night's  stillness. 

"  Let's  '  wood  up,'  "  he  stammered,  as  he  clambered 
into  the  sleigh.  Getting  up  on  the  back  seat,  he 
assumed  a  theatrical  attitude,  with  bottle  in  hand,  and 
in  imitation  of  the  Hermit,  commenced  a  speech. 

"  Feller-citi-(hic)-zens  !  wo !  wo  !  Ye  that  tarry  long 
at  the  —  the  wine,  ye  that  mix  your  (hie)  your  liquors  1 
Ye  that  stir  'em  in  the  (hie)  — in  the — the  cup.  They 
shall  bite  like  a  sar — arpent,  and  st-hing  like  a — like 
a —  What's  that  other  varmint  ? —  like  a  (hie)  —  like 
a —  the  devil,  my  friends  !  Let  me  wood  up,  and  — 
I'll  —  [gurgle,  gurgle,  from  the  bottle]  (hie)  "  draw  a 
picter." 

"  I'll  draw  all  your  '  picters,'  "  snarled  the  driver, 
shivering  with  cold,  and  he  struck  the  leaders  with 
his  whip,  and  yelled  out  "  go  !  " 

Like  a  flash,  Fenton  was  jerked  from  his  feet  over 
the  hind  end  of  the  sleigh.  He  caught  the  cloak  of 
Bell  Bel  ton  in  falling,  and  both  went  out  upon  the 
curb-stone  together  A  shriek  followed  the  boister- 


318  MINNIE  IIERMON. 

ous  ha !  ha !  of  the  revelers,  as  the  drunken  ones 
came  to  the  ground  ;  and  as  soon  as  the  drunken  dri- 
ver could  be  operated  upon,  the  sleigh  was  driven 
back,  and  the  company  got  out. 

Some  of  the  upper  crust  was  broken.  Teuton's 
thigh  and  arm  were  broken.  Miss  Belton  fell  with 
her  back  across  the  curb-stone,  and  was  taken  up  in- 
sensible, the  blood  oozing  from  her  mouth  and  nostrils. 
Halton  had  materials  for  drawing  his  pictures. 
Young  Fenton  was  a  cripple  for  life,  and  Bell  Belton 
received  so  severe  an  injury  in  the  spine  that  she 
never  walked  again.  High  life  was  brought  low. 
Ellen  Belton  married  a  young  man  of  fashion,  who 
squandered  her  portion  in  drinking  and  gambling,  and 
became  a  common  sot.  Old  Belton,  in  a  fit  of  deliri- 
um, plunged  headlong  into  a  well.  One  of  the  sons 
died  of  delirium  tremens  in  his  own  house,  chewing 
the  flesh  from  his  arms,  and  spitting  it  out  with  the 
froth  and  foam  of  madness.  Another  brother  fol- 
lowed in  a  brief  period.  The  last  one  lingered  a  few 
years,  a  miserable  drunkard  —  was  taken  home  from 
one  of  his  drunken  sprees,  and  soon  died.  A  splen- 
did marble  shaft  in  the  Oakvale  church-yard,  broken 
midway,  impressively  reads  the  history  of  the  wealthy 
and  talented  male  members  of  the  Belton  family. 

They  were  people  of  fashion,  loved  their  wine,  and 
scorned  the  associations  of  reformed  men.  The  re- 
viled Halton  lives  to  honor  our  common  humanity{ 
while  they  find  a  drunkard's  rest  under  marble. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

CLEAN   TICKETS STICKING  TO   PARTY. 

TIIE  sweep  of  Washingtonianism  was  broad  and 
marked  throughout  the  country.  With  searching 
power  its  tide  plunged  down  among  the  darker  cur- 
rents of  society,  and  ebbed  back  with  trophies  upon 
its  bosom.  The  deepest,  darkest  craters  of  the  evil 
were  penetrated,  and  their  infernal  fires  extinguished. 
The  peaks  and  the  base  of  society  were  lashed  by  the 
storm.  Borne  up  on  the  exultant  crest  of  the  wave, 
were  the  bruised  and  the  broken,  their  filth  and  rags 
fresh  upon  them  as  they  came  from  the  hut  and  the 
reeking  alley.  Each  in  turn  became  an  apostle  of  the 
new  doctrine,  and  in  turn  they  went  out  and  preached 
the  tidings  of  their  redemption.  The  shackles  fell 
from  more  than  one  hundred  thousand  captives,  and 
there  was  one  united,  grand  anthem  of  singing  and 
rejoicing  for  the  cloud  of  returning  prodigals  which 
darkened  the  pathways  to  the  "Washingtonian  shrine. 
Like  the  storm  in  a  summer  day,  the  reform  came  up 
in  a  clear  sky.  Society  was  gashed  by  the  torrents 
which  quickly  gathered  and  pressed  onward,  lifting 
away  from  habit  and  prejudice  the  high  and  the 
Imruble.  The  storm  has  passed  by,  and  the  channel's 


320  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

bed  is  nearly  dry.  The  force  has  been  spent.  There 
are  flecks  of  verdure  blooming  here  and  there  ;  but 
the  rest  is  dry  and  parched,  and  the  death-fires  of  the 
plague  have  licked  up  unnumbered  trophies  which 
cost  many  a  tear,  kind  word,  or  pleading  prayer. 
There  is  hardly  an  altar  reared  by  the  original  Wash- 
ingtonians,  npon  which  the  flame  then  kindled  now 
lingers. 

The  careful  observer  could  have  foretold  the  fail- 
ure of  the  movement  to  eradicate  the  evil.  Like  an 
angry  surge,  it  hoarsely  thundered  around  the  walls 
of  the  old  Babylon.  It  left  the  mark  of  its  force  where 
it  struck,  but  the  hoary  battlements  remained  in  their 
strength.  It  could  not  be  otherwise.  They  were 
based  upon  law,  and  a  hedge  of  legislative  enactments 
bristled  in  unbroken  strength.  The  government  in- 
terposed its  all-powerful  arm,  and  the  traffic,  under 
the  aBgis  of  its  protection,  smiled  in  security  and  scorn, 
As  the  flushed  legions  of  the  reformers  recoiled  from 
the  stronghold,  impregnable  to  their  moral  weapons, 
thousands  despaired  and  deserted.  An  amnesty  of 
offences  was  everywhere  declared  by  the  enemy. 
Others  were  left  alone,  exposed  to  the  treacherous 
sally,  and  went  down  in  the  unequal  contest.  "  Torn 
but  flying,"  the  reform  banner  could  only  be  planted 
where  it  could  flout  the  emblem  of  legalized  piracy, 
or  at  times  be  borne  by  forlorn  hopes  again  and  again 
to  the  breach. 

As  the  enemy  has  slimed  his  retreating  way  from 
one  position  to  another,  the  trail  has  ever  been  fol- 


STICKING  TO   PAETY.  321 

lowed  up  by  the  beleaguering  hosts.  The  last  strong- 
holds have  been  reached.  The  capitol  was  besieged 
and  flooded  with  petitions.  The  mighty  evil  took  the 
alarm,  and  leagued  with  party  interests.  Vanquished 
by  argument  in  the  council-chamber,  it  rallied  at  the 
ballot-box.  There  the  unholy  alliance  turned  for  the 
last  hand-to-hand  conflict.  There,  at  the  fountain- 
head  of  a  people's  power,  legislators  of  the  right  com- 
plexion were  to  be  annually  created,  and  the  traffic 
thus  sustained  and  perpetuated  at  the  capitol.  Against 
this  union  of  party  and  law,  the  reformers  were  asked 
to  quietly  use  their  moral  weapons.  They  were  to  be 
content  to  labor  for  the  salvation  of  the  drunkards 
made  by  government ;  casting  their  suffrages  for  the 
perpetuation  of  the  evils  of  intemperance,  and  at  the 
same  time  content  to  petition  for  their  removal.  They 
might  have  thus  toiled  forever.  Their  efforts  would 
have  fallen  as  far  short  of  arresting  the  tide,  as  the 
sunbeam  which  lingers  upon  the  sweeping  surface  "of 
Niagara. 

The  extent  to  which  parties  have  been  disciplined, 
has  proved  a  curse  to  our  country.  The  right  of  suf- 
frage has  been  most  basely  prostituted.  Unscrupu- 
lous demagogism  has  for  years  controlled  our  elec- 
tions. Politics,  in  the  common  meaning  of  the  term, 
have  become  as  corrupt  and  foul  as  rum  and  intrigue 
can  make  them.  Honesty  in  political  management 
is  not  known.  "All  is  fair  in  politics,"  is  the  basis 
of  action.  The  vei  y  heart  of  the  country  hao  been 
corrupted,  freemen  bartered  like  cattle  in  the  market. 


322  MINNIE   HERMON 

or  led  like  bound  slaveSj  and  their  suffrages  swindled 
away  for  less  than  pottage.  The  caucus  system,  and 
the  means  for  the  consummation  of  its  frauds,  have 
bred  the  deepest  corruption  in  the  public  morals. 
Honor  and  virtue  have  become  objects  of  hissing  and 
gcorn.  From  the  sacred  precincts  of  home,  the  citi- 
zen has  plunged  for  years  into  the  blighting  mael- 
strom of  the  "  sweat-pit  "  debauch.  The  more  hon- 
orable man  in  common  intercourse,  becomes  a  liar 
and  a  knave  in  the  intrigues  and  swindles  of  election- 
eering. The  accursing  element  has  reeked  at  the 
church  altar.  Its  foul  and  bestial  breath  has  mingled 
with  the  hollow  prayer ;  its  hand,  stained  with  the 
leprous  pollutions  of  the  rum-treating  carnival,  has 
desecrated  the  broken  body  of  Christ.  From  the  Sac- 
rament the  political  recreant  has  gone  out  to  buy 
votes  with  rum,  and  drink  with  the  boisterous  and 
vile.  Moral  and  religious  principles  are  alike  sacri- 
fioed  to  secure  personal  or  party  aims.  The  sot  and 
libertine  has  slavered  on  the  bench,  and  the  embodi- 
ment of  dram-shop  ruffianism  stalked,  through  the 
controlling  machinery  of  party  deception,  into  the 
senate  chamber.  Everywhere,  men  whom  justice 
would  honor  with  dungeon  and  shackle,  have  wormed 
into  positions  of  emolument  and  trust.  Our  elections 
have  dishonored  the  country  and  its  people  —  eleva- 
ting the  unworthy  to  power,  and  sapping  public  and 
private  virtue.  The  ballot-box  has  been  used  as  the 
most  potent  engine  of  the  profligate  and  abandoned, 
the  purchased  mercenaries  of  the  dram-shop  and 


STICKING   TO   PAHTY.  323 

brothel  disfranchising  the  citizen  who  has  a  stake  in 
society,  and  sending  their  own  appropriate  represent- 
atives to  legislate  for,  or  administer  the  laws  of  the 
country. 

The  caucus  system  has  been  the  main-spring  —  the 
controlling  power  of  this  evil.  It  has  placed  the  po- 
litical helm  in  the  hands  of  the  unprincipled  few. 
Cliques  of  village  demagogism  have  led  the  masses 
for  years.  The  machineiy  is  set  in  motion  by  two  or 
three  at  the  capital,  or  the  county  seat ;  it  reaches  the 
smaller  fry  in  the  towns,  and  all  delegations  are 
packed  at  an  early  day.  The  same  influences  control 
the  nominating  conventions  ;  on  motion,  all  is  declared 
unanimous  ;  public  opinion  in  high-sounding  resolu- 
tions, is  put  before  the  honest  yeomanry,  and  the  nom- 
inees are  before  the  people.  A  corrupting  fund,  un- 
der the  false  name  of  a  printing  fund,  is  then  assessed 
on  the  candidates,  the  taverns  are  subsidized,  and 
the  strife  commences.  The  open  purchase  of  votes 
by  money,  or  the  gambling  for  them  in  the  groggery, 
are  the  only  means  depended  upon  by  the  party. 
The  press  lends  itself  to  the  demoralizing  work.  The 
most  exemplary  citizen  is  transformed  into  an  angel 
of  darkness,  and  branded  with  all  things  infamous, 
while  scoundrels  by  profession  and  practice,  if  on  the 
"regular  nominations,"  are  as  falsely  transformed 
into  prodigies  of  integrity,  purity,  and  moral  worth. 
Under  such  a  state  of  things,  honorable  men  have 
shunned  the  caucus,  where  the  worst  portion  of  socie- 
ty controls  and  manufactures  the  "  popular  wilL'y 


324  MINNIE  HEKMON. 

They  shrink  from  nominations  when  their  inmost  lives 
are  fastened  upon  by  the  fiendishness  of  the  party 
press,  or  of  the  bar-room  blackguard,  and  torn  piece- 
meal into  shreds.  A  foreigner,  visiting  this  country 
in  the  height  of  an  exciting  political  campaign,  would 
at  once  determine  that  both  parties  had  selected,  as 
the  candidates  for  their  suffrages,  the  vilest  class 
they  could  hunt  out  from  the  depths  of  scoundrelism. 
A  day  of  drunkenness,  riot,  profanity,  and  revolting 
revelry  has  closed  up  the  plan  of  operations,  and  the 
patriot  cheek  reddens  with  hot  shame  at  the  wide- 
spread dishonor,  as  well  as  shudders  at  the  foot-marks 
of  the  plague  which  is  preying  upon  the  morals  of 
the  country.  Deeper  than  pit-marks,  the  cancer  eats 
at  the  heart  of  our  institutions. 

In  Oak  vale,  party  feeling  ran  high.  Each  party 
had  established  a  press,  and  the  columns  of  each  pa- 
per teemed  with  low  and  scurrilous  abuse  of  the  op- 
position. Bar-room  demagogism  echoed  the  assaults. 
Rum  and  slang  were  the  standing  batteries.  So  pow- 
erful and  corrupting  were  the  operations  —  the  disci- 
pline of  party  —  that  those  who  would  not  be  seen  in 
the  bar-room,  would  furnish  funds  to  imbrute  their 
neighbors  and  cheat  them  of  their  suffrages.  "All  ia 
fair  in  politics,"  was  the  motto  ;  and  the  church-mem- 
ber and  moralist  closed  their  eyes  with  the  villainous 
reflection  that,  as  the  opposing  party  did,  so  they 
were  justified  in  doing. 

As  the  more  sagacious  of  the  temperance  people 
had  earned  on  the  struggle,  they  had  learned  the  fact 


STICKING  TO   PABTY. 

that  the  rum  interest  was  the  great  lever  of  party 
demagogism,  and  that  there  was  a  close  union  be- 
tween party  and  the  traffic.  To  be  available,  a  can- 
didate must  stand  favorably  with  the  liquor  people. 
If  obnoxious  to  that  class,  he  was  either  cut  down  in 
caucus  or  convention,  or  stabbed  at  the  election.  The 
liquor  interest  was  ever  consistent,  and  at  the  polls 
voted  for  its  men,  regardless  of  party.  Hence  the 
determination  of  parties  to  always  mould  their  nomi- 
nations so  as  to  secure  the  support  of  the  dramshops. 
As  light  broke  in,  there  were  murmurings  at  the  tyr- 
anny of  party  bondage.  It  bound  men  in  dishonor- 
ing slavery.  It  chained  them  to  the  service  of  party, 
however  repugnant  to  their  sense  of  honor.  Galley 
slaves,  chained  to  the  party  oar,  they  were  compelled 
to  toil  to  sustain  the  very  evils  which  they  were  sworn 
against.  Shoulder  to  shoulder  with  rumsellers  and 
their  bloated  minions,  honorable  men,  as  members  of 
party,  were  compelled  to  support  those  who  were 
deadly  opposed  to  the  great  cause  they  professed  to 
love.  Thus  boards  of  excise  and  legislatures  were 
annually  created  of  men  who  were  sworn  enemies  to 
the  temperance  cause,  by  those  who  were  its  sworn 
friends.  Thus  blindly  and  fatally  were  men  held 
in  thrall  by  the  magic  influence  of  party  discipline ! 
The  impracticables,  or  radicals,  of  Oakvale,  had 
already  given  the  party  demagogues  trouble.  While 
they  contented  themselves  with  declamation  in  the 
church  or  .ectureroom  ;  with  adopting  resolutions  or 
the  compilation  of  statistics,  no  trouble  was  appre- 


326  MINNIE    HERMON. 

bended.  The  war  of  words  amounted  to  nothing,  so 
long  as  they  "  stuck  to  party  "  and  kept  the  temper- 
ance question  "  out  of  politics,"  voting  steadily  in  ut- 
ter violation  of  all  their  professions.  The  party  lead- 
ers were  all  "just  as  good"  temperance  men,  espe- 
cially before  elections,  as  men  could  be  ;  but  it  would 
prove  the  ruin  of  the  cause  the  moment  its  misguided 
friends  dragged  it  into  the  political  arena.  It  was  too 
holy  a  cause  to  be  thus  destroyed  !  And  so  these  men 
continually  whined  forth  their  hypocrisy.  At  the 
same  time  they  were  unblushingly  plunging  into  the 
deepest  corruptions  of  bar-room  electioneering.  But 
party  attachments  were  strong,  the  better  people 
blind  and  easily  duped.  Even  at  this  day,  many 
boast  that  they  never  "  split  a  ticket !  "  which  is  equiv- 
alent to  saying  that  they  have  voted  for  the  most  vile 
and  profligate  of  men,  merely  because  put  in  nomi- 
nation by  their  party  conventions  ! 

Oakvale  had  its  share  of  demagogues.  They  were 
loud  in  their  professions  of  regard  for  the  people,  and 
ever  eager  to  serve  their  country  in  a  public  capacity. 
From  the  higher  position  to  the  most  menial,  there 
was  a  hungry  pack  of  petty  office-seekers,  stooping 
to  every  trick  to  secure  popular  favor.  Some  impor- 
tant measure  was  made  the  pretext  for  their  wondrous 
zeal,  and  the  masses  were  appealed  to  annually  to 
rally  against  the  phantom  danger. 

Skillott  was  one  of  the  most  crafty,  as  well  as  one 
of  the  most  unscrupulous.  He  had  a  saint-like  coun- 
tenance, and  a  honeyed  phrase  for  all.  He  was  easy 


STICKING   TO    1'AIITY.  327 

In  his  manner,  and  well  calculated  to  win  favor.  But 
a  blacker  heart  than  his  never  beat  in  human  frame. 
Fresh  from  the  brothel  or  the  drinking  and  gambling 
saloon,  he  would  rub  his  hands,  and  in  gentle  speech 
talk  to  temperance  men  of  the  value  of  sobriety,  and 
to  Christians  of  the  sublime  truths  of  the  Bible.  He 
would  converse  for  hours  with  the  pastor  on  religious 
or  moral  subjects,  or  as  readily  find  congenial  spirits 
in  dens  of  vice  amid  the  clink  of  glasses,  with  the  ruf- 
fian or  the  wanton.  With  a  cat-like  pace  and  meek 
countenance,  he  pursued  his  way  towards  the  goal  of 
his  ambition. 

There  was  another  who  must  not  be  forgotten.     He 

was  a  prominent  member  of  the church,  and 

had  made  loud  professions  of  temperance  and  religion. 
He  had  left  his  old  political  friends  at  an  early  day, 
and  joined  the  ascending  party,  accepting  its  crumbs 
with  eagerness,  and  becoming  one  of  the  most  deter- 
mined advocates  of principles.  His  pew  in  the 

church  was  never  empty.  From  the  avails  of  fat  offi- 
ces, he  gave  liberally  to  the  church  and-  the  pastor. 
He  was  a  devoted  Christian,  and  was  anxious  to  give 
as  far  as  he  was  able,  to  the  cause  of  religion !  He 
agreed  with  all  people.  As  he  waxed  fat  at  the  pub- 
lic crib,  he  became  valorous  of  his  services  to  the 
party,  and  constituted  himself  one  of  its  pillars.  Men 
owed  their  nominations  and  elections  to  this  potent 
calculator  !  He  could  figure  out  a  result  with  unpre- 
tending ease,  and  always  predicted  the  result,  —  after 
it  was  known  to  a  certainty.  He  loved  the  temper- 


328  MINNIE    HERMON. 

ance  cause.  With  its  most  radical  friends,  he  was 
radical ;  with  the  half-way  friend,  he  was  half-way ; 
with  the  drinking  man,  he  was  liberal ;  and,  though 
a  temperance  man,  did  not  object  to  others  doing  as 
they  pleased ;  to  the  dealer,  he  was  bland,  nodded 
and  winked  knowingly,  sneered  at  those  who  were 
ruining  the  temperance  cause,  and  at  elections  called 
up  the  rabble  and  treated  them.  The  other  party  did 
BO  !  When  he  was  up  for  an  important  office,  he 
chuckled  over  his  tact  at  swimming  between  the  two 
interests.  In  the  bar-room  he  avowed  himself  a  tem- 
perance man,  and  threw  down  the  five  dollars  to  treat 
the  company  !  He  was  perfectly  willing  that  other 
people  should  exercise  their  own  opinion  in  such  mat- 
ters. To  the  temperance  men  he  whined  about  per- 
secution, and  thought,  as  he  had  always  been  a  tem- 
perance man,  they  ought  to  "  turn  in  "  and  sustain 
him.  His  position  in  the  church  was  used  for  the 
same  purpose,  and  as  falsely.  From  the  church  he 
passed  to  the  groggery.  He  would  descend  to  the 
lowest  haunt.  He  would  drink  with  the  vilest,  or  fur- 
nish money  to  inebriate  a  score  in  the  "  sweat-pit," 
where  voters  were  manufactured  the  Sabbath  be- 
fore election.  Barrels  of  beer,  and  crackers  and 
cheese,  were  placed  at  eligible  localities  before  elec- 
tions, to  secure  suffrages.  And  Mr.  Dobbs,  at  the 
same  time,  most  bitterly  lamented  the  course  of  those 
"  hot-heads  "  who  were  determined  to  drag  the  tem- 
perance cause  into  politics.  He  was  as  much  of  a 
temperance  man  as  any  one ;  but  he  could  not  coun- 


STICKING  TO   PARTY.  329 

tenance  any  such  folly.  The  "  cussed  fools "  [Mr. 
Dobbs  never  wore  his  religion  across  the  church  thresh- 
old] would  destroy  all  the  good  that  had  been  done 
in  spite  of  all  he  could  say  or  do.  In  the  Alhambra 
he  reiterated  his  grievances  over  Cogniac  and  fried 
liver. 

Walter  Brayton  had  somewhat  cooled  in  his  tem- 
perance zeal.  The  canker  of  political  ambition  had 
entered  his  heart,  and  he  gave  his  hopes  to  "the  at- 
tainment of  political  distinction.  He  dreamed  not  of 
the  pitfalls  which  lay  in  his  path.  And  upon  such 
men  the  allurements  of  political  life  win  like  a  charm 
—  stealthily  but  strongly  binding  the  better  impulses, 
until  the  victim  is  blindly  led  a  slave  to  party. 

Skillott  was  a  keen  observer  of  human  nature.  He 
bad  discovered  the  weak  point  in  Bray  ton's  character, 
and  formed  his  plans  accordingly.  He  hated  the  tal- 
ented lawyer  with  a  deep  and  unyielding  hate.  He 
now  plotted  his  ruin  with  the  coolness  of  a  savage, 
and  proceeded  to  weave  the  web  around  his  powerful 
rival.  Skillott  was,  too,  politically  ambitious.  He 
would  secure  the  aid  and  influence  of  Brayton,  bind 
him  to  his  interests,  and  ruin  him  in  the  process. 
It  was  a  bold  plan,  and  fatally  consummated,  as  the 
sequel  will  show. 

"With  smiles  and  kind  words,  and  an  earnestly  ex- 
pressed interest  in  his  welfare,  the  crafty  counselor 
commenced  his  approaches.  They  were  coolly  met 
at  first.  But  words  were  dropped  where  they  would 
reach  Bray  ton's  ears.  Tools  were  found  to  join  in  the 


330  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

plot  Ere  the  victim  had  seen  a  mesh,  the  fire  had 
been  kindled  in  his  heart,  and  the  light  of  its  false 
glare  had  secured  his  attention.  But  for  these  new 
feelings,  he  would  have  seen  the  change  in  his  acts 
and  sentiments  as  a  temperance  reformer.  One  ex- 
cuse after  another  came  readily  to  his  mind  ;  and  ere 
six  months  had  passed  by,  Walter  Brayton's  voice 
was  hardly  heard  upon  the  platform.  Many  a  true 
friend  mourned  this  change,  but  could  not  account 
for  it.  The  Washingtonian  interest  flagged,  for  a 
strong  man  had  been  bound,  and  the  enemy  came  in 
like  a  flood.  Many  a  poor  wretch  gave  way  when 
Walter  ceased  to  nerve  by  his  presence  and  trumpet 
peals.  Walter  found  himself  looking  with  less  re- 
pugnance upon  men  whom  he  had  so  strongly  de- 
nounced. The  temperance  meeting  was  almost  en- 
tirely abandoned.  When  he  did  attend,  some  un- 
worthy excuse  was  formed  to  rid  himself  of  the  call 
of  the  audience.  Skillott  courted  his  company,  and 
cunningly  infused  more  poison  into  his  mind.  Once 
drifting  away,  there  was  danger  of  an  utter  wreck. 
He  was  invited  to  political  gatherings,  and  called  out 
in  addresses.  His  eloquence  was  popular  with  the 
masses,  and  the  incense  of  popular- applause  proved 
grateful  to  the  new  master  which  had  so  suddenly 
sprung  up  full  grown  in  his  bosom.  He  became  a 
leading  spirit  in  political  campaigns,  and  saw  open 
before  him  a  career  of  much  promise. 

—  Walter  Bray  ton  was    drifting  from   his  better 
moorings ! 


STICKESTG  TO   PABTY.  331 

There  was  one  friend  who  had  watched  Walter's 
course  with  all  the  anxiety  of  her  deep  and  change- 
less love.  She  had  listened  to  him  while  he  plead 
the  wrongs  of  the  drunkard,  and  loved  him  for  his 
uncompromising  opposition  to  the  traffic.  Against 
the  bitter  words  of  her  father  —  and  he  seldom  spoke 
otherwise  than  bitterly  to  her  —  she  had  defended 
"Walter.  Hermon  had  sworn  that  Walter  Brayton 
should  never  marry  a  daughter  of  his  —  he  should 
die  first.  Minnie  had  turned  away  from  the  infuria- 
ted drunkard  and  wept  in  secret — not  so  much  at  what 
the  madman  said,  as  at  the  deep  ruin  which  his 
habits  had  brought  upon  him.  She  had  also  found 
trouble  in  the  new  associations  of  Brayton.  She  in- 
stinctively shrank  from  Skillott.  That  instinct  told 
her  that  there  was  danger  in  his  stealthy  tread  and 
glittering  eye.  The  lawyer  bad  said  but  little  to  her, 
but  there  had  been  something  in  his  manner  which 
she  loathed  and  dreaded.  She  had  noticed  his  inti- 
macy with  Brayton,  and  she  foreboded  evil  from  it. 
She  felt  that  the  crafty  and  unprincipled  man  was  no 
friend  to  Walter.  There  was  some  evil  design  con- 
cealed under  his  assumed  friendship,  and  she  deter- 
mined to  watch  every  movement  with  a  jealous  eye. 

Walter  seldom  spent  much  time  at  Eerrnon's  in  the 
company  of  Minnie  ;  it  only  subjected  both  her  and 
himself  to  abuse  from  the  sullen  and  revengeful  land- 
lord. Of  late  he  had  seen  her  less  than  usual.  Al- 
though her  love  for  him  had  been  tried,  even  in  the 
ordeal  of  tears  and  blows,  doubts  of  her  truth  had 


332  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

been  planted  in  his  mind.  The  evil  seed  had  been 
carelessly  sown  by  an  evil  hand,  and,  in  spite  of  all 
she  had  been  to  him,  was  taking  root.  As  the  new 
mistress,  Ambition,  won  his  attention,  he  more  readi- 
ly became  distrustful  of  the  other.  With  devilish 
cunning,  Skillott  had  dropped  expressions  in  Walter's 
hearing  which  lingered  and  rankled,  and  grew  with 
the  food  they  fed  upon.  Even  her  night  pilgrimagea 
of  mercy  —  going  out  in  the  depths  of  the  night  to  dis- 
pense her  charities,  so  as  to  escape  the  abuse  of  her 
father — were  artfully  colored  into  whispers  against  her. 
Often,  on  such  errands,  she  was  accompanied  by  the 
Hermit.  Skillott  put  on  a  look  of  sadness  as  he  care- 
lessly alluded  to  the  matter,  regretting  that  so  fine  a 
woman  as  Miss  Hermon  should  be  so  strangely  fasci- 
nated by  that  artful  man.  Their  movements  in  the 
night  were  for  no  good  purpose,  he  feared.  And  the 
fearful  influence  of  Skillott  had  so  soon  been  woven 
around  Walter,  that  he  listened  to  such  things  without 
a  word  of  rebuke  ! 

— The  night  darkened  around  Minnie  Hermon ! 

Late  in  the  summer  there  was  an  announcement 
made  of  a  temperance  meeting,  which  produced  no 
little  excitement.  John  Gault  was  to  speak.  Like  a 
meteor,  his  name  had  shot  up  into  the  sky.  His  fiery 
eloquence  had  kindled  an  excitement  wherever  he 
had  been,  and  people  everywhere  were  on  the  tip-toe 
to  hear  him.  The  press,  in  spite  of  its  subserviency 
to  the  rum  power,  had  awarded  him  the  highest  posi- 


STICKING   TO   PARTY.  333 

tion  as  a  natural  orator.  The  people  of  Oakvala 
beard  and  doubted,  yet  were  anxious  to  judge  for 
themselves. 

Minnie  had,  late  in  the  evening  of  the  meeting, 
while  returning  from  some  of  her  visits,  met  Walter 
arid  Skillott  in  company.  The  latter  excused  himself, 
and  passed  on  with  a  smile,  leaving  "Walter  and  Min- 
nie to  cross  the  street  to  the  Home,  in  company.  She 
asked  Walter  if  he  was  going  to  the  meeting,  to  which 
he  returned  an  evasive  answer. 

"  And  why  not  ?  "  she  frankly  inquired,  looking 
closely  and  familiarly  in  his  face.  He  stammered 
out  some  excuse,  and  turned  to  go. 

"  Walter !  " 

The  tones  of  her  voice,  now  deeply  earnest  and  sad, 
arrested  him.  She  hesitated  a  moment,  choking  back 
a  sigh  which  struggled  up  from  her  heavy  heart. 

"Walter !  what  strange  spell  has  been  thrown  over 
you  within  the  last  six  months?  Your  acts,  your 
smiles,  your  words  are  not  like  yourself.  Why  do 
you  shun  me  lately  ?  Tell  me,  Walter  !  what  have  I 
done  to  merit  it?  It  is  sad  indeed,  if,  in  the  sore 
troubles  that  thicken  around  rne,  you  are  to  turn  away. 
Walter  Bray  ton,  you  are  the  soul  of  honor  and  truth, 
and  I  conjure  you,  tell  me  the  reason  of  all  this.  If 
new  troubles  have  come  upon  you,  let  me  know  them 
as  you  once  did.  My  own  are  bitter  enough,  God 
knows  ;  but  I  have  a  heart  to  feel  for  those  of — of — 
my  friends." 

Minnie  choked  and  kept  down  the  endearing  term 
14 


334  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

which  came  up  for  utterance.  Walter's  cold  and  al- 
tered manner  repelled  the  warmth  of  love  which 
with  her  knew  no  change. 

Like  a  culprit,  Brayton  cowered  as  her  words  fell 
upon  him  like  thongs.  There,  before  her,  his  man- 
hood told  him  that  she  was  all  that  he  had  ever  been 
happy  to  dream  her ;  and  the  first  generous  impulse 
prompted  him  to  tell  her  all,  and  to  ask  her  forgive- 
ness. Then  came  between  him  and  her  the  cold, 
sneering  image  of  Skillott,  and  the  promise  of  a  high 
political  position  at  the  coming  election.  He  felt  that 
he  had  wronged  her,  and  he  ungenerously  hunted, 
for  a  justification  of  his  course.  He  was  too  proud 
to  acknowledge  his  error.  Minnie  continued  to  urge 
an  explanation. 

"  Walter,  I  shall  urge  you  no  more.  I  a.m  not  ig- 
norant of  the  source  of  your  cruel  suspicions.  Your 
mind  has  been  poisoned.  You  have  taken  an  enemy 
—  remember,  Walter,  an  enemy  —  to  your  bosom,  and 
he  will  sting  you,  fatally,  I  fear.  Once  you  would  not 
have  listened  to  a  whisper  against  Minnie  Ilermon. 
You  believed  her  all  that  was  pure  and  worthy.  But 
friend  after  friend  of  the  drunkard's  daughter  turns 
away.  To  lose  one  I  have  so  leaned  upon,  is  harder 
than  all.  But  it  matters  not.  With  a  brand  upon 
me,  I  cannot  expect  the  noble  and  the  good  to  remain 
steadfast.  Walter  Brayton!  [and  she  breathed  the 
words  close  to  his  burning  cheek]  I  know  all.  One 
year  ago  you  would  have  crushed  the  viper  who 
would  have  breathed  aught  against  me.  Frank  as  I 


STICKING   TO   PARTY.  335 

ever  have  been,  I  now  say,  with  a  heart  breaking  un- 
der this  last  blow,  I  absolve  you  from  every  vow  to 
me.  I  will  not  stoop  to  counteract  the  poison  of  one 
who  is  an  enemy  of  us  both.  I  would  yield  my  life 
for  you,  Walter,  but  I  never  will  defend  myself  from 
slanders  lodged  in  the  mind  of  one  I  would  have 
trusted  in  all  ordeals.  Your  suspicions  are  cruel,  and 
I  may  say,  unworthy  of  Walter  Bray  ton,  and  an  affi- 
anced husband.  You  may  not  thank  me  for  what  I 
say  ;  but  as  one  who  has  madly  loved  —  who  will 
love  while  she  lives,  —  one  I  can  only  know  as  a 
friend  — I  warn  you  of  the  evil  designs  of  those  who 
are  luring  you  out  upon  the  treacherous  sea  of  polit- 
ical ambition.  Those  who  tempt,  seek  your  ruin. 
Beware  of  Skillott,  for  he  is  an  enemy  now,  as  he 
ever  has  been.  And  if  you  should  ever  see  the 
day  when-  all  false  friends  desert,  the  ill-fated  Min- 
nie Hermon  will  be  a  friend  still.  Generous,  but 
deceived  friend !  with  God's  blessing  upon  you, 
good " 

She  could  not  speak  the  word.  Tho  deeper  heart- 
tide  of  her  strong  woman's  love  came  like  a  flood  upon 
her,  and  she  wiung  his  hand  and  wept,  and  then  hur- 
ried through  the  hall  to  her  chamber. 

And  darker  still  the  night  around  her.  She  would 
not  have  thus  boldly  released  Brayton  from  his  vowa, 
but  she  believed  that,  with  his  opening  prospects  of 
distinction,  he  had  become  ashamed  of  his  connection 
with  the  daughter  of  one  who  was  now  considered  the 
basest  in  the  community.  She  felt  the  injury,  and 


836  MINNIE  HERMON. 

scorned  to  claim  the  love  of  one  who  appeared  tf 
shun  an  alliance  with  a  name  so  branded  by  all. 

"  She  plays  well,"  gravely  remarked  Skillott,  as  he 
emerged  from  the  hall  door.  "  I  was  an  unwilling 
listener  to  your  conversation,  Mr.  Brayton.  Miss 
Hermon  is  very  willing  to  release  you  from  your  en- 
gagement. There  are  reasons  for  all  things.  Step 
this  way."  •  Skillott  took  the  arm  of  Brayton,  who 
followed  abstractedly  out  upon  the  stoop,  and  up  a 
pair  of  stairs  into  the  piazza  above.  The  light  came 
from  an  open  window.  As  Skillott  and  Brayton  ap- 
proached it,  the  former  motioned,  cautioned  and  whis- 
pered "false  —  the  proof."  In  cooler  moments,  Bray- 
ton would  have  scorned  the  act  of  looking  through  an 
open  window  for  such  a  purpose. 

Yet  he  loved  Minnie  Hermon,  and  the  demon  of 
jealousy  was  again  aroused.  She  almost  wished  to 
find  some  justification  of  his  suspicions,  yet  dreaded 
such  a  result.  As  he  heard  voices  in  the  room,  one 
of  them  masculine  and  the  other  Minnie's,  all  doubts 
of  the  propriety  of  the  act  gave  way  before  the  fe- 
verish anxiety  to  see  and  know  who  was  in  the 
chamber. 

At  a  table  covered  with  books  and  writing  mate- 
rials, sat  the  Hermit,  the  wide-brimmed  hat  removed 
from  the  broad  and  now  handsome-looking  brow,  and 
his  usually  wild  eye  beaming  with  a  mild  and  tender 
light.  Minnie  had  thrown  her  bonnet  upon  the  sofa, 
and  stood  leaning  against  the  book-case,  sobbing  vio- 
lently. The  Hermit  was  asking,  in  kindly  tones,  the 


STICKING-  TO   PAKTY.  337 

cause  of  her  trouble,  and  finally  arose  and  put  his 
arm  around  her  waist,  brushed  her  hair  away  with 
his  hand,  and  imprinted  a  kiss  familiarly  upon  her 
cheek.  She  made  no  effort  to  repel  the  familiarity. 

Brayton  turned  away  with  a  sickening  sensation, 
the  hot  blood  flooding  to  the  cheek  and  again  back 
to  the  heart,  burning  in  the  damning  proof  as  it 
coursed  in  its  throbbing  channels.  As  he  reeled 
towards  the  stairway,  Skillott  glided  to  his  side,  and 
without  a  word  thrust  a  crumpled  paper  into  his  hand 
and  disappeared. 

The  paper  was  a  letter.  Brayton  read  it  again  and 
again,  every  character  a  barb,  leaving  its  rankling 
venom  to  fester  in  his  heart.  It  was  in  the  hand-wri- 
ting of  Minnie  ;  there  could  be  no  mistake.  It  was 
but  farther  confirmation  of  her  falsehood. 

"  Father  stormed  terribly,  when  I  told  him  who 
you  were,  and  made  threats  which  I  will  not  repeat 
But  he  dare  not  refuse  the  proposition.  I  have  had 
many  fears  lately,  and  it  'will  be  a  boon  to  have  one 
near  on  whom  I  can  lean  in  trouble.  You  will  have 
the  room  which  opens  out  upon  the  piazza.  It  is 
close  by  mine,  and  we  can  spend  many  an  hour  to- 
gether, when  there  are  no  suspicious  eyes  to  pry  into 
our  'ntimacy. 

"  From  your  affectionate 

"  MINNIE." 


338  MINNIE   HERMON. 

New  emotions  raged  in  Brayton's  bosom.  He  had 
been  deceived,  betrayed.  Minnie  Hermon  was  false. 
The  proof  was  overwhelming  ;  and  his  rival  was  that 
canting  hypocrite.  He  crushed  the  letter  in  his  hand, 
and  with  firm-set  teeth,  arose  and  walked  the  room 
until  a  late  hour.  Now  that  she  had  proved  faithless 
and  he  saw  her  throwing  herself  away  upon  another, 
he  learned  how  deeply  he  had  loved  her,  and  how 
heavy  the  blow.  He  proudly  determined  to  forget 
her  in  the  pursuit  of  his  ambitious  political  aspirings, 
and  bend  all  his  energies  to  achieve  fame  and  power. 
The  noise  of  his  triumph  might  reach  and  wound  her 
who  had  so  deceived  him. 

There  was  another  night-walker  in  the  neighbor- 
hood. Skillott  had  peered  in  through  the  office  win- 
dow, and  witnessed  the  working  of  his  scheme.  His 
web  was  closing  surely  around  the  victim. 

As  election  approached  the  excitement  in  relation 
to  candidates  increased.  Skillott  was  in  for  the  nom- 
ination for  judge,  and  had  secured  the  support  of 
Brayton,  by  a  promise  to  go  in  for  him  the  next  fall, 
for  representative  to  Congress.  The  temperance  peo- 
ple, too,  must  be  courted.  Dobbs  was  selected  for 
that  purpose.  Skillott  and  his  clique  knew  him  to  be 
utterly  unprincipled,  and  ambitious  for  a  place.  A 
promise  of  a  nomination  for  the  clerkship  of  the 
county  had  secured  his  influence.  As  many  of  the 
temperance  people  as  he  could  deceive,  was  so  much 
gain.  Halt  on  being  the  ruling  spirit  among  the 
Washingtonians,  Dobbs  approached  him.  Yet  the 


STICKING   TO   PABTY.  339 

old  veteran  was  a  knotty  customer  to  deal  with.  But 
there  were  few  of  the  temperance  people  at  the  cau- 
cuses, and  Skillott  delegates  were  chosen  without 
much  opposition.  The  game  had  been  as  well  man- 
aged throughout  the  county,  and  at  the  convention 
the  ballot  for  Skillott,  as  candidate  for  judge,  was 
very  large,  and,  on  motion  of  Dobbs,  it  was  declared 
"  unanimous."  Many  people  murmured  that  such  a 
man  should  be  presented  for  so  important  an  office  ; 
but  the  machinery  of  party  was  set  in  motion,  and 
there  were  few  at  that  time  that  had  the  moral 
courage  to  openly  rebel  against  his  nomination.  A 
bolter  was  odious.  People  dared  not  reject  a  portion 
of  the  regular  party  ticket.  The  overshadowing  des- 
potism of  party  was  brought  to  bear  upon  every  man 
who  claimed  the  right  to  act  as  a  freeman  in  the  dis- 
charge of  the  right  of  suffrage. 

"  Well,  Halton,"  said  Dobbs,  one  morning,  after 
the  nominations,  "  How  will  your  folks  go  ?  For 
Skillott,  I  s'pose  ?  " 

"  I  don't  know,"  answered  Halton,  "  how  others 
will  go,  but  I  shall  go  against  him." 

"What!  and  a  good  Whig,  too?" 

"  Whig  or  no  whig,  I  never  can  go  for  such  a  man 
for  office,  especially  that  of  judge." 

«  Why  not  ? " 

"  I  don't  like  the  man.  -His  principles  and  habita 
both  unfit  him  for  the  position." 

"  Well,  I  know  he  is  not  what  you  call  a  radical 
temperance  man  ;  but  then,  he  is  a  friend  of  the 


340  MramE  HERMON 

cause.  But  because  a  man  don't  think  as  we  do,  01 
takes  a  drink  once  in  a  while,  his  own  party  friends 
ought  not  to  turn  against  him  when  he  has  received 
the  nomination." 

"  I  have  my  doubts  about  this  doctrine  of  sticking 
to  party,  right  or  wrong." 

"  If  all  were  to  take  that  ground  at  every  little 
thing  that  turned  up,  the  party  would  be  broken  up, 
and  no  good  "Whig  could  be  elected  to  any  office." 

"  I  very  much  question  whether  there  is  any  ne- 
cessity for  a  party  whose  corruption  is  such  that  the 
worst  men  in  community  are  nominated  for  the  sup- 
port of  honorable  men." 

"  We  cannot  always  expect  the  best  of  men  to  be 
nominated.  It  wont  do  to  draw  the  lines  too  close  in 
these  matters,  or  the  party  cannot  stick  together.  If 
a  man  receives  a  nomination,  his  party  ought  to  sus- 
tain him.  And  besides,  there  are  great  principles  at 
stake.  They  can  only  be  carried  out  by  well  organ- 
ized party  strength.  We  must  go  the  regular  party 
nominations." 

"  When  they  are  secured  by  fraud  ?  " 

"  Ahem  !  there  will  be  more  or  less  management  in 
all  nominations.  One  party  does  it,  and  the  other 
must.  It's  all  fair  in  politics  ?  " 

"  And  so  the  commission  of  a  fraud  by  one  party, 
justifies  the  commission  of  another." 

"  Well,  they  are  obliged  sometimes  to  do  it,  you 
know,  to  keep  the  party  together." 

"  But  why  not  nominate  good  men,  as  well  as  bad  ? " 


STICKING   TO   PABTT.  .          341 

"  "We  can't  always  do  that.  I  would  be —  ahem  , 
glad  to  see  it  so  ;  but  a  party  is  made  up  of  all  kinds 
of  folks,  and  we  cannot  always  have  things  just  as  we 
want  them.  Our  party  is  a  good  deal  better  about 
such  things  than  the  other  ;  so  it  would  be  no  use  to 
bolt  a  nomination.  It  would  only  injure  the  party 
without  effecting  anything.  I  feel  bound  to  go  the 
regular  nominations." 

"  But  the  way  these  nominations  are  often  made  is 
an  outrage.  Look  at  Skillott's." 

"  Why,  he  was  nominated  unanimously  ! " 

"  Unanimously  !  and  by  a  convention  of  packed 
delegates." 

"  "What  do  you  mean  by  packed  delegates  ?  " 

"  I  mean  that  he  and  his  clique  scoured  the  county 
three  weeks  before  the  caucuses,  and  cut  and  dried 
the  whole  concern.  His  nomination  was  secured  be- 
fore the  convention  met,  and  men  only  came  here  to 
go  through  the  farce  of  nominating  him  '  unani- 
mously.' " 

"  O  well,  everybody  tries  to  get  all  the  delegates 
they  can.  That's  all  right." 

"  Right  to  spend  money,  treat  rum,  and  buy  up  del- 
egates ?  What  kind  of  men  had  he  from  this  village, 
and  how  were  they  selected  ? " 

u  What  of  'em  ?  "  briefly  asked  Dobbs,  his  fac-a 
reddening,  for  he  had  been  one  of  Skillott's  delegates. 

"  Sure  enough.  What  of  'em  ?  -  Rmnsellers,  fiots^ 
gamblers,  libertines,  and  abandoned  characters,  with 
few  exceptions.  You  know  it  as  well  as  I  do.  And 


34:2  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

we  are  bound  to  stick  to  party  nominations  when 
made  by  sucli  men  !  " 

"  Your  prejudices  are  too  strong,  Halton.  You  are 
Baying  a  good  deal.  The  party  is  not  to  blame  for 
having  bad  men  in  it.  It  ought  not  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible. 

"And  had  honorable  party  men,  then,  ought  to  be 
held  responsible  to  sustain  the  results  brought  about 
by  such  characters  ?  " 

"Why,  I've  seen  nothing  very  bad  —  no  worse 
than  all  parties  do.  "We  cannot  better  the  matter  by 
splitting  tickets.  Every  true  party  man  must  go  the 
clean  ticket." 

"  What  do  you  call  a  clean  ticket  ?  " 

"A  regular  ticket,  made  out  by  regular  party  con- 
ventions, where  the  whole  have  a  voice  in  the  matter. 
Every  one  is  bound  to  vote  a  '  clean  ticket.'  " 

"And  so  then,  the  Skillott  ticket  is  a  clean  one  ?  " 

"Why,  certainly;  he's  regularly  nominated.  It  is 
the  regular  ticket." 

"And  we  are  bound  to  vote  for  whoever  is  put  in 
nomination  by  the  party." 

"  Most  certainly,  according  to  all  established 
usage." 

"And  so  if  the  devil  should  be  put  in  nomination 
by  a  party  convention,  a  burglar  or  a  horse-thief,  it 
•would  be  a  regular,  '  clean  ticket,'  and  the  party 
would  be  bound  to  go  it." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  compare  Mr.  Skillott  to  a  bur- 
glar or  horse-thief,  I  hope  ? "  crustily  exclaimed 


STICKING  TO   PABTY.  343 

Dobbs.  getting  nettled  at  the  pointed  questions  of 
Halton. 

"  No  ;  but  he  was  nominated  by  those,  many  of 
them  no  better." 

"  You  talk  like  a  fool.  It  is  just  such  kind  of 
talk  as  injures  the  cause.  I  am  just  as  much  of  a 
temperance  man  as  anybody,  but  there  is  no  use  in 
acting  like  a  fool." 

"  Better  a  fool  than  a  hypocrite  and  knave,"  coolly 
retorted  Halton. 

"Ahem !  I —  I  did  not  mean  that  you  were  a  fool, 
but  some  people  are  so  ultra  that  they  never  will 
effect  anything." 

"  You  say  you  are  as  much  of  a  temperance  man 
as  anybody.  And  yet  you  all  the  time  go  in  with 
those  who  are  deadly  in  their  hatred  to  our  cause." 

"  O,  they  belong  to  the  party.     I  can't  help  that." 

"  But  you  could  have  helped  going  down  to  the 
*  Columbian,'  among  the  reeking  dens  of  pollution, 
and  in  company  with  state-prison  birds,  brothel  keep- 
ers, and  gambling  vagabonds,  treating  to  liquor,  ma- 
king speeches,  and  manufacturing  votes  for  Skillott's 
caucus.  Was  that  like  a  temperance  man,  Mr. 
Dobbs?" 

"  You  and  your  hot  heads  always  abuse  people,  do 
ing  the  temperance  cause  ten  times  more  hurt  than . 
good.     You  are  determined  to  go  to  the  devil." 

"  And,"  continued  Halton,  "  last  Sunday  you  camo 
from  church  and  went  into  the  Alhambra  and  drinked 
brandy,  and  talked  politics  with  the  set  that  there 


344  MINNIE    HERMON. 

herd ;  and  in  the  evening,  again  -at  the  Columbian, 
manufacturing  Skillott  delegates.  You  say  that  when- 
ever the  time  comes  to  carry  out  temperance  princi- 
oles,  you  will  be  one  of  the  best.  That  means  that 
svhile  office  and  party  are  to  be  served  by  treating 
whisky,  and  going  regular  nominations,  you  stick  to 
party ;  but  when  the  temperance  sentiment  is  the 
strongest,  you  will  be  ready  to  ride  that ! " 

"  You  're  a  set  of  cussed  fools,  all  of  you.  You 
want  to  drag  the  temperance  cause  into  politics  and 
ruin  it  entirely.  Bolt  your  ticket  if  you  want  to,  and 
see  what  you  '11  get  if  you  ever  come  up  for  an  office. 
I  would  vote  for  an  out-an-out  rummy  before  I  would 
for  such  ad  —  d  fanatic.  I  have  been  a  temperance 
man  this  —  a  —  this  twenty  years,  and  get  only  abuse 
for  it." 

Dobbs  put  his  unwieldy  hulk  in  rapid  motion  —  a 
persecuted  man,  in  his  own  estimation.  His  temper- 
ance professions  were  only  met  with  abuse.  He  had 
tried  all  he  could  to  keep  temperance  out  of  politics 
and  save  the  cause,  and  his  efforts  were  thus  unappre- 
ciated. Men  would  act  like  fools. 

The  stickler  for  party  nominations  was  in  a  sweat. 
He  wished  to  ride  both  horses,  but  the  fanatics  gave 
him  trouble.  An  hour  after  his  conversation  with 
Halton,  he  could  have  been  found  in  the  Alhambra, 
rehearsing  his  grievances,  and  his  efforts  to  keep  the 
temperance  question  out  of  politics.  He  never  had 
believed  in  mixing  religion  or  temperance  with  his 
politics  He  never  did. 


STICKING   TO   1'AETT.  343 

Skillott's  nomination  was  an  outrage.  The  outrage 
consum  mated  by  his  election.  An  unprincipled 
•debauchee  a  ssumed  the  ermine,  and  became  a  minis- 
ter of  the  la^v r.  The  moral  and  Christian  men  of  the 
party  scorned  the  man.  They  knew  him  utterly  un- 
fit for  -such  a  position.  His  election  would,  they 
•knew,  be  :a  disgrace  to  the  Bench,  an  injury  to  the 
cause  of  good  morals,  and  an  outrage  upon  justice. 
But  there  was  n-o  way  to  avoid  it.  He  was  nomina- 
ted regularly  by  .the  party,  and  party  men  must  sup- 
port him.  Bolters  were  branded  as  worse  than  Judas 
Iscariots,  and  deserving  of  all  the  opprobrium  which 
party  minions  and  the  party  press  could  invoke. 
Deep  and  unending  political  damnation  Avas  invoked 
upon  the  man  who  d  ared  to  split  a  ticket.  The  press 
•stood  ready  with  th  ongs  of  bitter  denunciation  to 
scourge  the  hesitatin  g  or  refractory.  The  citizen 
might  boast  of  being  a  freeman,  but  no  Russian  serf 
•was  more  a  cringing  slave  to  his  master,  than  he  to 
his  party.  In  the  Oak  vale  Daily  Advertiser,  of  the 
day  previous  to  election,  the  following  article  waa 
.aimed  at  the  •"  restless  spirits  "  who  dared  to  talk  of 
•voting  as  they  professed : 

"  Upon  the  success  of  tlhe party  depends  the 

adoption  or  rejection  of  those  great  principles  of  na- 
tional and  state  policy  whioh  have  so  vital  a  bearing 
upon  the  prosperity  of  our  country.  The  opposition 
is  pledged  to  an  unscrupulous1  and  vindictive  warfare 

upon  the  best  interests  of  the-  Republic.  The 

party  is  emphatically  the  par  ty  of  the  people.  The 


346  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

party  is  made  up  of  individuals,  and  each  true 

will  see  the  importance  of  being  true  to  the  time-hon- 
ored faith.  No  true will  falter.  Upon  the  uni- 
ted and  undivided  party  the  future  prosperity  of  the 
state  and  nation  depends.  Its  integrity  must  l>e  pre- 
served. 

"  From  personal  and  petty  piques,  there  are  some- 
times found  in  parties,  "  restless  spirits,"  who  wish  to 
carry  their  personal  animosities  into  their  political 

action.  They  wish  to  make  the party  an  engine 

to  carry  out  their  own  selfish  aims.  Great  principles 
are  nothing  to  such  men.  The  integrity  of  the  party 
must  be  periled  to  gratify  their  one  ideaism.  We 
have  our  eye  upon  some  such  who  have  enjoyed  and 
now  enjoy  good  offices  from  the  party.  They  depend 
upon  the  party  for  their  bread.  Let  them  vote  any- 
thing but  a  clean  ticket  if  they  dare.  They  are 
watched.  They  will  be  branded  as  renegades  and 
traitors.  They  shall  be  held  up  to  the  execration  of 

all  true ,  and  made  such  an  example  of  as  shall 

be  a  warning  to  all  such  deserters  in  the  future.  Our 
ticket  is  worthy  of  the  hearty  support  of  the  undivi- 
ded    party.  Watch  the  bolters  —  mark  them. 

They  will  be  dealt  with  hereafter  as  they  deserve.  A 
man  who  will  scratch  his  ticket  is  unworthy  the  name 
of .  When  holding  office,  they  should,  as  speed- 
ily as  possible,  be  compelled  to  vacate  for  men  '  who 
will  stand  by  the  party  which  feeds  them.' " 

Thus  were  refractory  party  men  whipped  into  the 
traces,  and  so  despotic  and  potential  was  the  strength 


STICKING   TO   PAETY.  347 

and  terror  of  party  discipline,  that  there  were  few 
men  who  dared  to  face  the  storm.  The  foulest  com- 
binations ever  concocted  in  grog-shop  conclave,  went 
out  to  the  people  endorsed  as  the  regular,  clean  ticket ; 
and  the  blood-hounds  of  party  drill,  fed  on  the  drip- 
pings of  party,  and  expecting  more,  were  unleashed 
to  worry  and  hunt  the  elector  who  supposed  the  right 
of  suffrage  his  own.  A  principle  more  subversive  of 
all  political  independence,  was  never  made  the  shame- 
less bond  of  party  union.  A  slavery  more  humilia- 
ting and  repulsive,  never  was  submitted  to  by  an 
intelligent  and  free  people. 

The  masses  little  knew  of  all  the  means  made  use 
of  to  secure  the  election  of  the  candidates.  Dobbs 
was  not  a  whit  behind  Skillott  in  a  wholesale  corrup- 
tion. Ex-convicts  from  the  prison,  and  keepers  of  no 
torious  establishments  in  Oakvale,  were  put  upon  the 
vigilance  or  challenging  committees.  Fr  m  the 
funds  collected  from  the  candidates  with  which  to 
"pay  for  pi^inting"  large  sums  were  carried  through 
out  the  county  and  thrown  into  every  bar-room.  In 
Oakvale,  for  a  week  before  the  election,  the  grogger- 
ies  swarmed  with  drunkenness.  Dobbs  and  Skillott 
had  engaged  them  all  in  their  interest,  as  had  the 
other  party,  and  rum  was  as  free  as  water.  What 
rum  would  not  purchase,  money  was  depended  upon 
to  do.  Church  influence  was  invoked.  Skillott  at- 
tended every  Church  in  the  place,  and  gave  to  the 
Missionary  and  Bible  Society.  To  temperance  men 
he  talked  blandly.  He  had  never  found  time  from 


348  MINNIE    HERMON. 

his  onerous  legal  business  to  make  much  effort  in  so 
just  a  cause,  but  he  was  a  sincere  well-wisher,  and  if 
elected,  he  should  feel  it  his  duty  to  see  that  the  laws 
were  administered  faithfully.  He  saw  the  poor  and 
the  countryman.  Their  wives  and  families  were  in- 
quired after,  and  they  were  invited  to  his  office,  or  to 
his  house  for  dinner.  The  Irish  vote  was  courted. 
Petty  office-seekers  were  all  promised  assistance  in 
the  future.  Barrels  of  beer,  and  a  supply  of  crackers 
and  cheese,  were  placed  in  all  the  haunts  for  the 
thirsty  and  hungry  democracy.  Notorious  bravadoes 
and  ruffians  were  chartered  to  bark  and  brow-beat. 
The  "  Columbian  "  steamed  night  and  day.  It  was  a 
notorious  "sweat-pit,"  where  voters  were  made  drunk- 
en by  the  score.  Dobbs  and  Skillott  were  found  there 
all  night.  From  the  communion  at  the  church,  the 
former  went  there  on  the  Sabbath  and  stayed  all  night. 
More  than  thirty-two  voters,  in  one  den,  were  kept 
drunk  over  Sunday  under  lock  and  key,  and  during 
Monday  and  Monday  night ;  and  Tuesday  morning  they 
reeled  to  the  polls,  and  voted  for  Skillott  and  Dobbs. 
The  same  game  was  universal  throughout  the  county. 
Sober  and  worthy  citizens  were  brow-beat  and  clial 
lenged  by  pot-house  ruffians,  or  deterred  from  the 
polls  by  open  violence.  With  oaths  and  stenciling 
breaths,  drunken  men  reeled  and  kissed  the  Bible  as 
they  swore  in  their  votes.  Dobbs  looked  innocently 
upon  every  one,  for  both  parties  did  so,  and  all  was 
fair  in  politics.  At  night  the  groggeries  were  jammed 
with  a  reeling,  cursing,  shouting,  slavering  mass  of — 


STICKING   TO    PARTY.  349 

yeomanry  ;  and  fightings  and  hideous  yellings  filled 
the  streets  until  a  late  hour.  The  day  had  been  one 
of  wholesale  drunkenness  and  riot.  At  the  close, 
when  the. result  was  learned,  the  successful  candidates 
gathered  in  the  Daily  office  and  talked  complacently 
of  their  personal  popularity,  and  the  corruptions  en- 
tered into  to  defeat  them.  The  Daily  announced  the 
victory  in  glaring  capitals,  and  called  it  one  of  the 
most  overwhelming  triumphs  of  the  campaign.  The 
opposite  party  resorted  to  the  basest  means  to  secure 
their  ends,  but  the  people  were  incorruptible,  and  had 
pronounced  against  them !  An  oyster  supper,  alias, 
a  drunken  jollification,  came  off  at  the  "  Alhambra  ' 
in  honor  of  the  result.  Judge  Skillott  was  carried 
home  drunk.  Dobbs  managed  to  attend  the  covenant 
meeting  on  the  following  day,  Saturday,  and  gava 
liberally  to  the  missionary  cause,  sighing  with  much 
sanctity  as  he  leaned  his  head  upon  his  hand.  Ha 
was  a  popular  man  !  He  had  not  mixed  any  religion 
or  temperance  with  his  politics !  As  a  member  of 
the  executive  county  committee,  he  with  his  col- 
leagues had  secured  a  handsome  suit  of  clothes,  and 
fell  more  than  ever  in  love  with  the  principles  of  the 

great party. 

The  regular  ticket  was  elected.  Professed  temper- 
ance men  and  Christians  had  voted  the  "  clean  ticket,*. 
The  temperance-professing,  brandy-drinking  hypo- 
crite was  elected  clerk,  and  the  favorite  of  the  grog- 
shop and  brothel,  judge.  The  "clean  ticket"  was 
•elected !  The  few  who  murmured  at  such  tickets, 


350  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

were  whistled  down  as  one-idea  hot-heads,  who  would 
ruin  a  good  cause  by  dragging  it  into  politics.  Tem- 
perance was  a  "  holy  cause,"  but  it  was  lost  the  mo- 
ment its  misguided  friends  forced  it  into  the  political 
arena. 

And  Judge  Skillott  did  enforce  the  law !  The 
keepers  of  the  lowest  groggeries  were  fined  fifty  dol- 
lars each.  A  negro  who  had  sold  whisky  in  a  mis- 
erable shanty,  was  severely  lectured,  fined  twenty -five 
dollars,  and  "  sent  up  "  until  paid.  The  keepers  of 
the  Alhambra,  the  Arland,  the  Home,  etc.,  were  fined 
three  dollars  each,  and  at  night  the  judge  got  drunk 
on  their  liquor ! 

He  was  elected  on  the  "  clean  ticket !  "  by  those  who 
felt  bound  to  stick  to  party,  and  keep  the  temperance 
cause  out  of  politics  !  They  had  helped  the  rum  in- 
terest put  one  of  its  most  unscrupulous  friends  upon 
the  Bench.  The  rumsellers  and  friends  had  all  thrown 
party  aside  in  the  contest  and  stood  by  their  cause. 
The  "  clean  ticket,"  consistent,  2)arty  temperance 
men,  had  joined  with  them  in  carrying  rum  into  pol- 
itics ! 


THE   SIGNATURE   OF   THE   DEAD. 


CIIAPTEK    XXVII. 

IOI8ON   IN    THE   CUP SIGNATURE   OF  THE   DEAD A 

GUEST  NOT   INVITED. 

DEEPER  and  darker  gathered  the  night  around 
Minnie  Ilermon !  The  desertion  and  consequent  cold 
treatment  of  Bray  ton,  had  struck  down  every  hope 
which  had  cheered  her  in  her  sorrows.  Scarcely  a 
ray  lingered  in  the  gloomy  horizon.  She  did  not  re- 
proach Brayton.  In  her  chamber,  with  the  darkness 
and  her  own  bitter  thoughts,  she  remembered  him 
with  the  strength  of  a  love  which  their  separation  had 
not  subdued.  A  gulf  had  opened  between  them,  wi- 
dening every  day.  Hidden  from  him  and  the  world, 
it  burned  more  intensely  upon  the  ruins  of  the  fair 
fabric  it  had  reared  in  the  inmost  heart.  As  it  crurn* 
bled  away,  the  pure  shrine  sent  up  a  flame  whose 
brightness  would  go  out  only  with  life.  She  saw 
"Walter  crossing  the  first  fatal  circles  of  temptation. 
She  would  have  warned  him,  but  she  felt  that  he 
cared  not  for  her.  Her  thoughts  turned  often  upon 
the  change  in  him  and  his  sentiments  towards  her, 
She  had  not  changed  in  her  love, —  she  wondered  at 
the  change  in  him.  Yet,  through  all  the  ill  which 
was  to  come  upon  him,  Minnie  Hermon,  with  the 


354:  MINNIE  HERMON. 

changeless  fervor  of  a  true  woman's  love,  was  to 
weep  and  pray  for  the  object  of  her  heart's  first  deep 
idolatry. 

Retribution  had  followed  swift  and  close  upon  th 
steps  of  Hermon.     The  dread  bondage  he  had  helpei 
to  weave  around  so  many,  had  closed  upon  himself. 
He  had  lifted  to  his  own  lips  the  fatal  chalice  he  had 
commended  to  his  neighbors.     Such,  in  a  large  ma- 
jority of  cases,  has  been  the  punishment  of  those  who 
deal  in  rum. 

The  old  man,  his  hair  fast  whitening  with  age  and 
troubles,  was  a  drunkard.  One  more  wholly  aban 
doned  to  his  cups,  had  not  gone  from  his  tavern 
The  farther  he  went,  the  deeper  the  depths  of  degra 
dation.  He  presented  the  complete  and  utter  wreck 
of.  a  once  intellectual  and  honorable  man.  All  his 
manhood  had  been  consumed,  and  he  stalked  about 
his  premises,  the  embodiment  of  the  leprous  curse  he 
had  introduced  and  fostered  in  Oakvale.  His  per- 
sonal appearance  did  not  belie  his  character  and 
habits.  His  slouched,  greasy  looking  hat  and  seedy 
garments — the  face  bloated  and  burning  with  the 
consuming  hectic  of  constant  dissipation — his  eye- 
lids eaten  away,  and  the  balls  a  revolting  red,  togeth- 
er with  his  ill-temper  and  listless  movements,  pro* 
sented  a  revolting  picture  of  ruin. 

The  Home  had  changed,  as  well  as  its  landlord. 
More  fashionable  taverns  had  taken  the  better  cus- 
tom, and  left  it  but  the  wrecks  of  its  own  making. 
The  sign  was  weather-beaten,  and  the  posts,  rotten  at 


POISON   IN   THE   CUP.  355 

the  ground,  were  settling  over.  The  boards  were  off 
the  shed,  the  doors  unhinged,  and  one  end  of  the 
feeding-trough  split  and  fallen  upon  the  ground.  The 
pump  was  useless,  and  grass  began  to  grow  thickly 
among  the  stones  of  the  platform.  The  stoop  waa 
rotting,  and  one  end  had  settled  as  the  wall  beneath 
had  crumbled  away.  Many  of  the  windows  were 
broken,  and  the  whole  appearance  of  the  house  ex- 
ternally, was  ruinous  and  desolate.  • 

With  this  marked  change  of  circumstances,  came 
a  corresponding  loss  of  character  and  standing.  The 
Home  was  but  the  haunt  of  the  lowest  grades  of  the 
drinking  community.  It  was  licensed,  for  its  custo- 
mers were  voters  as  well  as  those  of  the  Arland  or 
A-lhambra.  In  its  dingy  bar-room  the  sots  of  Oak- 
vale  lingered  to  complete  the  work  commenced  in  its 
better  days. 

Minnie  could  not  escape  a  portion  of  the  odium 
which  had  fallen  upon  her  father.  Even  among  the 
drinking  class,  the  Home  was  in  bad  repute.  As  its 
mistress,  she  suffered  with  its  waning  fortunes.  De- 
serted by  Brayton,  and  only  known  as  the  daughter 
of  a  drunken  tavern  keeper,  the  better  class  of  so- 
ciety scarcely  ever  troubled  themselves  with  a  thought 
of  the  lonely  girl.  The  disgrace  of  her  father  and 
the  house  was  not  without  its  effect  upon  her.  She 
felt  that  she  was  neglected,  perhaps  despised,  and 
consequently  shunned  society.  Crimes  worse  than 
selling  liquor  even,  had  been  whispered  against  Her- 
mon  ;  vices  \rorse  than  drunkenness  were  said  to  hold 


356  MINNIE  HERMON. 

their  revels  at  the  Home.  Shut  mostly  within  its 
doors,  it  was  not  strange  that  scandal  should  fasten  a 
share  of  the  stigma  upon  Minnie.  She  had  often 
been  seen  nights,  threading  the  poorer  streets  of  Oak- 
vale.  Had  her  object  been  known,  the  community 
would  have  witnessed  some  of  the  holiest  charities 
which  ever  fell  unheralded  at  the  hearthsides  of  the 
poor  and  needy. 

"With  all  this  unjust  opinion  against  her,  she  still 
clung  to  her  wretched  father.  He  had  rewarded  her 
devotion  to  him,  with  coarse  abuse  and  —  Hows! 
And  in  that  rendezvous  of  the  wretched  and  vile,  her 
pure  spirit  lingered  like  an  angel  in  unbroken  dark- 
ness. 

There  were  few  of  the  drinking  men  of  Oakvale 
who  had  descended  more  rapidly  than  "Walter  Bray- 
ton's  father.  He  had  squandered  all  his  property,  and 
,vas  verging  upon  the  confines  of  pauperism.  He 
and  Walter  had  quarreled  at  an  early  day  about  the 
Home,  and  his  drinking  habits,  and  since  had  had 
but  little  intercourse  with  each  other.  Still  Walter 
had  been  careful  that  his  parent  did  not  suffer  for  any 
of  the  necessaries  of  life.  Suddenly,  good,  or  it  may 
be,  bad  fortune,  came  unexpectedly  to  the  old  man. 
A  bachelor  brother  in  Rhode  Island  died  and  left 
him  a  handsome  little  fortune  of  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars, to  go,  at  his  death,  to  Walter.  This  was  joyous 
news  to  old  Brayton,  as  well  as  to  his  cronies  and  the 
dealers.  They  judged  right  as  to  the  strength  of  his 
love  of  drink,  and  the  hopelessness  of  his  reformation. 


POISON  m  THE  CUP.  357 

Halton  and  his  companions  made  desperate  exertions 
to  save  the  old  gentleman,  but  in  vain.  Howard  tried 
with  no  better  success.  Walter  met  with  abuse,  his 
father  charging  him  with  an  itching  to  linger  the 
money  before  his  time. 

Deeper  drank  Bray  ton  and  his  companions.  Wild- 
er and  more  devilish  were  their  revels.  Old  Bray- 
ton's  money  was  sown  like  chaff,  for  ten  thousand 
dollars  seemed  to  him  exhaustless.  Pipes  were  lighted 
with  bank-bills,  and  scores  were  treated  by  the  week 
Often  dead  drunk  during  these  periods,  hundreds  of 
dollars  were  plundered  from  him  by  his  companions 
and  the  more  abandoned  of  the  dealers,  where  the 
money  was  spent.  Even  the  Arland  and  Alhambra 
were  glad  to  sell  liquor  to  a  man  worth  ten  thousand 
dollars  !  Walter  looked  upon  these  things  with  sor- 
row and  shame,  and  for  a  time  all  his  old  hatred  of 
the  traffic  burned  up  as  hotly  as  ever.  He  made  con 
stant  efforts  to  enlist  the  societies  for  the  reclamation 
of  the  old  man.  Every  effort  failed,  and  in  six  weeks 
time  nearly  one  half  of  the  ten  thousand  dollars  had 
been  squandered  or  stolen  by  the  harpies  who  hung 
around  him. 

Skillott,  through  the  confidence  of  Walter,  had 
learned  all  the  circumstances  of  the  legacy,  and  his 
eyes  glistened  as  schemes  for  its  possession  were 
planned  in  his  mind.  It  was  now  wasticg,  and,  should 
any  of  it  be  left,  Walter  was  the  last  man  he  would 
wish  to  have  it.  While  pushing  for  the  judgeship, 
he  had  held  out  the  post  of  a  representative  to  Con- 


358  MINUIE   HERMON. 

gress  to  "Walter.  Skillott  determined  to  push  tor  the 
post  himself,  and  the  possession  of  wealth  by  the  vic- 
tim might  foil  all  his  plans. 

Skillott  did  not  visit  the  Home  save  late  in  the  eve 
nings.  It  was  in  bad  repute,  and  the  demagogue 
wished  to  retain  the  semblance  of  respectability. 
Every  night,  at  a  late  hour,  however,  he  was  found  at 
Hermon's.  He  did  not  always  see  Minnie  ;but  when- 
ever he  could  get  an  opportunity,  he  assumed  unwon- 
ted grace  and  essayed  to  appear  devoted  in  his  atten- 
tions. She  shunned  him,  and  recoiled  from  his  honeyed 
words  as  from  the  hiss  of  a  viper,  hardly  concealing 
the  deep  and  unconquerable  dislike  she  felt  towards 
the  man.  An  utter  stranger  to  the  honorable  of  the 
sex,  Skillott  was  a  sneering  skeptic  about  their  being 
such  among  women,  and  he  did  not  in  the  least  aban- 
don his  base  designs  against  Minnie.  He  loved  her 
not.  Her  sharp  and  scornful  repulses  to  his  sickening 
flatteries,  had  stung  him  until  he  was  maddened. 
Vindictive  and  withering  in  his  hate  against  man  or 
woman,  as  well  as  fiery  and  ungovernable  in  his  pas- 
sions, he  seldom  commenced  his  approaches,  but  what 
he  accomplished  the  ruin  of  his  victim.  Could  he 
grasp  Minnie  and  Walter  both  in  his  net,  the  triumph 
would  be  a  double  one.  "  He  would  not  be  foiled  by 
old  Herinon's  daughter,"  he  muttered  as  he  turned 
across  the  street  on  his  way  to  the  Home. 

As  Skillott  entered  the  hall  he  met  Minnie  going 
out. 

"Ah!  Miss  Hermon  —  beg  your  pardon,  but  like 


POISON   IN   THE   CUP.  359 

the  miller  of  a  summer  night,  I  am  constantly  drawn 
to  the  flame,"  spoke  the  lawyer,  in  his  blandest  tones, 
and  with  a  touch  of  assumed  tenderness.  With  a 
cold  inclination  of  the  head,  Minnie  stood  back  for 
him  to  pass  in,  and  through  the  right  door  to  the  bar- 
room. Shutting  the  street  door  he  still  stood  with  his 
back  against  it,  and  looked  close  in  her  face.  She 
recoiled,  and  asked  to  be  permitted  to  pass. 

"  Do  not  be  thus  cold  to  one  who  takes  a  deep  in- 
terest in  your  welfare.  I  would  be  a  friend  to  you, 
Miss  Hermon,"  continued  Skillott,  in  low  tones. 
There  was  a  strange  and  thrilling  influence  in  them 
which  sent  a  chill  over  his  listener.  She  felt  that 
that  burning  gaze,  peculiar  to  the  man,  was  fastened 
upon  her,  and  turned  to  leave  him. 

"  No,  no,  Miss  Hermon,  you  must  not  leave  so.  If 
I  have  offended,  it  has  been  from  excess  of  regard. 
Snrely  a  lovely  girl  like  yourself  would  not  go  into 
the  street  at  this  time  of  night  without  a  protector." 

"  I  need  none,  sir,"  briefly  replied  Minnie,  as  she 
now  stepped  to  go  out  of  the  door  which  Skillott  had 
moved  away  from. 

"  Nay,  sweet  girl,  but  you  do.  One  like  you  should 
have  one  friend.  I  should  be  happy  to  be  smiled  up- 
on by  one  whom  an  unworthy  friend  has  abandoned." 

"  Let  me  pass,  sir.  Your  language  and  manner  are 
insulting." 

"  Not  so  hasty,  Miss.  I  think  too  much  of  you  to 
insult  you."  Then  bending  closely  to  Minnie,  he 

whispered  wards  which  we  will  not  repeat. 
15 


360  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

"You're  a  villain!  Hands  off,  sir!  Coward  — 
help!" 

There  was  a  glancing  shadow  in  the  dim  light,  and 
Skillott  received  a  blow  which  felled  him  to  the  floor. 
As  the  revelers  came  out  of  the  bar-room,  he  was 
found  insensible.  He  was  taken  np,  and  after  a  time 
came  to  himself.  No  one  had  been  seen  in  the  hall, 
and  Skillott,  believing  that  it  was  Minnie  who  gave 
him  the  blow,  stated  that  he  fell  as  he  entered,  from 
catching  his  toe  on  the  threshold.  Minnie  had 
scarcely  heard  the  blow  and  the  fall  of  Skillott,  be- 
fore she  was  lifted  like  a  child,  and  noiselessly  borne 
up  the  stairs  by  a  strong  arm.  Minnie  felt  keenly 
this  gross  insult  in  her  own  house.  It  was  suggestive 
of  many  a  bitter  thought. 

With  a  vow  of  revenge  for  the  blow  and  the  in- 
sulting repulse,  Skillott  dismissed  the  matter  from  his 
mind  as  he  noticed  the  progress  of  matters  in  the 
bar-room.  The  elder  Brayton  and  some  two  or  three 
others  were  present,  and  all  drunk.  At  the  sugges 
tion  of  Skillott^, the  others  were  prevailed  upon  to 
leave,  under  pretense  of  closing  the  house.  Brayton 
was  too  good  a  customer  to  be  thus  turned  out,  and 
was  left  snoring  by  the  fire-place,  his  chin  dropping 
upon  his  breast. 

For  a  long  time  Skillott  and  Hermon  conversed  in 
whispers  across  the  counter,  the  latter  drunk  enough 
to  be  a  blind  tool  of  the  cool-headed  lawyer. 

"  Brayton  is  making  a  complete  fool  of  himself 
It  is  too  bad." 


POISON    IN   THE    CUP. 


361 


"  Yes ;   lie  can't  stand  it  long  so." 

"  How  he  wastes  money  !  " 

"  Yes ;  it  goes  like  dirt.  He  will  very  soon  rnn 
through  it." 

"How  much  do  you  s'pose  he  has  left  of  the 
legacy  ? " 

"  Half  on't,  like  enough ;  may  be  more  —  don't 
know!" 

"  Too  bad  to  have  him  squander  it  so  —  don't  do 
anybody  any  good." 

"  It's  his  own." 

"  Just  so,"  blandly  answered  Skillott.  "  But  such 
men  as  Jud  Lane  and  Mike  Henry  are  getting  more 
than  their  share  of  it."  The  bait  took,  and  a  slight 
smile  crept  coldly  over  Skillott's  countenance,  as  he 
watched  the  effects  of  his  words  upon  Hermon. 

"  It  would  be  a  kindness,  would  some  trusty  friends 
take  charge  of  his  money  and  keep  it  for  him."  The 
lawyer  still  watched  Hermon  keenly,  as  he  assumed 
a  careless  tone  and  air,  drumming  with  his  fingers  on 
the  counter.  Hermon  -made  no  response,  and  Skillott 
continued : 

"  I'll  warrant  Jud  Lane  has  taken  a  good  share, 
and  he  never  has  done  one-hundredth  part  as  much 
for  Brayton  as  you  have" 

Hermon  did  not  see  the  sneer  that  lingered  around 
Skillott's  lips  as  he  spoke  the  last  words,  but  began 
to  be  aroused  by  the  crafty  words  of  the  Judge.  Jud 
Lane  was  getting  too  much  of  old  Brayton's  ten 
thousand  dollars!  The  judge  noted  the  kindling  of 


362  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

the  landlord's  avarice  and  continued,  forcing  a  yawn, 
and  still  drumming  carelessly  upon  the  counter: 

"  You  would  have  done  the  old  man  a  great  kind- 
ness, as  well  as  Walter,  if  you  had  always  taken  his 
money  when  he  is  in  one  of  his  drunken  sprees,  and 
kept  it  from  those  that  plunder  him."  Still  no  re- 
sponse from  Hermon. 

"  Indeed,  I  have  blamed  you  because  you  have 
not.  It  is  not  doing  as  you  would  be  done  by." 

"I  —  I  —  ahem  !  —  I  —  have  occasionally  taken  — 
care  of  money  for  him.  I  thought  I'd  better  take 
it  than  to  have  him  waste  it.  He  don't  take  care  of 
his  money  at  all." 

"  Right,  Mr.  Hermon,"  and  Skillott's  eye  glittered. 
"Right.  I  had  thought  as  judge,  of  ordering  the 
same  thing,  but  I  feared  "Walter  would  not  like  it. 
How  much  have  you  saved  him  ?  Enough  to  do  him 
some  good  when  the  rest  is  spent,  I  hope." 

"  Why  —  a —  about  —  let  me  see :  a  quite  a  sum. 
It  would  have  all  been  lost  if  I  hadn't  got  it  laid 
away  for  him." 

"  Four  or  five  hundred  dollars,  perhaps  ?  "  and  he 
whistled  as  he  looked  leisurely  about  the  room  and 
tapped  the  tips  of  his  fingers  together. 

"  Yes  —  about  that,  I  s'pose,"  replied  Hermon,  com- 
pletely won  by  the  careless  manner  of  Skillott.  The 
latter  had  not  lost  a  single  word  or  expression  of  the 
landlord's  face.  Assuming  a  confidential  air,  and 
drawing  closer  to  Hermon,  he  continued : 

"  Between  you  and   me,   Hermon  —  this  between 


POISON   IN   THE   CUP.  363 

ourselves,  you  know  —  it  has  been  talked  over  by  a 
few  of  old  Brayton's  friends,  and  concluded  that  it  ia 
best  to  devise  some  plan  to  save  his  property.  As  I 
am  judge,  and  have  his  confidence,  the  whole  matter 
has  been  entrusted  to  my  arrangement.  Knowing 
that  you  and  he  were  intimate,  we  thought  it  best  to 
ask  your  assistance.  As  it  is,  the  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars will  not  last  him  a  year.  And  then,  if  he  dies, 
there  is  another  trouble.  I  would  not  wish  it  noised 
about,  for  he  is  a  friend  of  mine  ;  but  it  is  a  sad  truth 
that  Walt  has  got  so  he  steams  it,  and  if  the  money 
falls  into  his  hands,  it  will  go  the  same  way  that  it  ia 
now  going.  So  we  have  concluded  that  you  and  I 
get  the  old  man  to  put  his  money  into  our  hands  for 
safe  keeping.  It  is  the  only  way  it  can  be  saved ;  foi 
otherwise  Jud  Lane  will  have  it,  as  sure  as  fate.  Now 
the  plan  we  propose  is  this,"  continued  Skillott,  in 
whispers,  laying  the  finger  of  his  right  hand  carefully 
in  the  palm  of  the  left.  "  We  will  get  him  to  sign 
writings,  (I've  got  them  here  in  my  pocket,)  deeding 
to  us  all  his  property  for  safe  keeping,  carrying  the 
impression  that  it  is  as  security  for  moneys  borrowed. 
We  are  then  to  give  him  small  sums,  or  ourselves  pay 
his  expenses,  and  keep  charge  of  the  money.  Thus 
you  see  we  should  have  the  use  of  the  money  as  long 
as  he  should  live,  and  he  could  not  spend  it  around 
town.  He  could  board  here,  and  you  could  have  the 
pay  for  his  board  and  grog.  I  think  this  a  good  plan." 
"  Most  certainly  I  do.  Jud  Lane  cannot  then  plun- 
der him,"  and  Ilermon  rubbed  his  hands  at  the 


364  MINNIE    EERMON. 

thought.  That  snaky  smile  again  crept  around  the 
corners  of  Skillott's  mouth. 

"  Now  it  seems  to  me  we  shall  not  have  a  better 
time  than  to-night.  It  is  necessary  for  his  good  that 
it  be  done  soon — the  sooner  the  better.  Have  you 
a  room  where  we  shall  not  be  interrupted  ?  " 

"  The  back  chamber." 

"  Just  so  ;  that  will  do.  We  shall  not  be  interrupt- 
ed there,  probably  ? " 

"  Not  at  this  time  o'night." 

"  We  must  not  be ;  because,  you  see,  it  is  highly 
important  that  the  thing  be  nicely  managed.  Better 
take  pen  and  ink  up  there." 

As  Ilermon  came  back.  Skillott  still  stood  drumming 
carelessly  upon  the  counter,  and  old  Brayton  sat  sno- 
ring by  the  hearth.  The  light  burned  dimly  in  the 
bar-room,  and  the  noise  of  tramping  feet  had  long 
since  ceased  in  the  street.  The  windows,  only,  were 
heard  as  they  rattled  in  the  fitful  gusts  which  puffed 
around  the  Home. 

"  Now,"  said  Skillott,  *'  we  must  awake  him,  and 
arouse  him  with  a  glass  of  brandy,  and  then  persuade 
him  up  stairs  to  bed.  Pour  out  the  brandy,  and  as 
you  lift  him  up  I  will  hand  it  to  you." 

Hermon  passed  around  and  shook  Brayton  by  the 
shoulder,  awakening  him  from  his  drunken  slumber 
with  much  difficulty.  While  he  was  doing  so,  Skil- 
lott emptied  the  contents  of  a  vial  into  the  brandy, 
and  then  handed  it  to  Hermon,  who  had  just  got  the 
dozy  drunkard  upon  his  feet.  He  made  no  objections 


POISON    IN    THE   CUP.  365 

to  the  brandy,  and  after  much  coaxing,  was  persua- 
ded to  let  them  assist  him  up  to  bed.  Skillott,  before 
leaving  the  bar-room,  took  the  precaution  to  lock  the 
doors.  On  reaching  the  chamber,  Skillott  commenced, 
in  blandest  tones,  to  induce  the  drunken  man  to  sign 
the  paper  presented  to  him.  The  man  stared  vacantly 
as  the  pen  was  put  into  his  hand,  with  the  statement 
that  the  paper  was  a  receipt  for  money  they  had  bor- 
rowed of  him,  which  they  now  wished  to  pay  him. 
Mechanically,  Brayton  put  his  hand  where  directed, 
but  was  evidently  too  drunk  to  understand  what  he 
was  about,  or  to  write  his  name  alone.  A  gust  of 
wind  slammed  the  window  blind  furiously,  startling 
both  parties  abruptly.  Skillott  moved  to  the  window, 
but  on  Hermon  assuring  him  that  the  window  could 
not  be  reached  save  from  the  ground,  he  fastened  the 
blinds  and  returned  to  the  drunken  man.  As  the 
hand  was  again  placed  upon  the  paper,  Brayton  ut- 
tered a  cry  of  pain,  and  doubled  convulsively  in  his 
chair.  There  was  a  slight  paleness  around  Skillott's 
mouth,  and  Hermon  looked  on  with  astonishment. 

-  ".What  was  in  your  brandy  ? "  asked  the  Judge, 
with  his  eye  fastened  keenly  upon  the  landlord. 

"  Nothing.     Why  do  you  ask  ? "  answered  Hermon 
with  a  troubled  countenance. 

"  It  is  queer  that  he  should  have  convulsions.     Is 
ho  subject  to  them?  " 

"  Not  that  I  ever  knew  of." 

"  Then  I  fear  he  is  going  to  have  the  delinum-tre- 
mens.     He  will  arouse  the  whole  neighborhood,  and 


3fi6  MINNIE    HERMON. 

probably  die  before  the  property  is  safe  where  Walt 
cannot  spend  it." 

"  Come,  Brayton,  sign  the  receipt  ;  I  must  go 
home."  Again  the  pen  was  put  into  the  man's  hand, 
but  his  agony  was  now  evidently  excruciating.  He 
writhed  in  convulsions,  doubling  down  on  his  stom- 
ach, and  howling  in  agony. 

"This  must  not  be  ;  he  will  injure  himself,"  said 
Skillott.  "  We  must  hold  him  on  the  bed,  and  keep 
the  paroxysms  down  until  he  is  quiet.  If  he  shrieks 
it  will  make  him  worse.  Take  hold  of  his  feet  — 
quick." 

As  the  two  tossed  Brayton  upon  the  bed,  he  strug 
gled  and  shrieked  until  Skillott's  blood  ran  cold 


But  it  was  too  late  to  retreat.  He  threw  himself 
Brayton,  and  told  Hermon  to  put  the  pillow  over  his 
head  and  hold  it  down.  "  It  would  keep  him  from 
exhausting  himself." 

Hermon  did  as  ordered,  but  the  united  strength  of 
the  two  could  riot  hold  Brayton  still.  With  a  howl 
of  pain,  he  hurled  them  upon  the  floor  and  sprang 
into  the  middle  of  the  room,  writhing  and  doubling, 
and  the  froth  bubbling  from  the  mouth.  He  stared 
wildly  at  Skillott  and  Hermon. 

"  In  God's  name,  what's  the  matter  of  me.  Call 
a  doctor  quick,  or  I  can't  live.  O  dear  —  merciful 
God  !  there  is  fire  in  my  bowels.  Water  !  quick  !  for 
God's  sake  —  WATER  !  " 

He  shrieked  again  as  the  paroxysm  took  him. 
With  desperate  energy  Skillott  leaped  upon  him,  and 


POISON    IN    THE    CUP.  367 

thrust  his  handkerchief  into  his  mouth,  and  with  al- 
most superhuman  strength,  again  threw  him  on  the 
bed.  The  pillow  was  again  held  down  upon  Brayton'a 
face ;  Skillott  pressed  upon  him  with  all  his  strength. 

Weaker  grew  the  man,  and  less  violent  his  convul- 
sions. Half-smothered  shrieks,  and  prayers,  and  criea 
for  breath  and  water,  came  from  under  the  pillow, 
even  with  Hermon's  weight  upon  it.  A  fierce,  con- 
vulsive shiver  ran  over  the  trunk  and  limbs ;  they 
slowly  straightened  out  as  Skillott  relaxed  his  grasp  ; 
the  deep  chest  heaved  fearfully  for  breath,  and  Bray- 
ton  lay  still. 

"  Quick,  now,  before  the  paroxysm  comes  on  again 
—  the  pen  and  light." 

Hermon  removed  the  pillow  and  handed  them,  as 
ordered.  Skillott  had  raised  Brayton  to  a  sitting  po- 
sition. 

"  Here,  Hermon,  let  him  lean  upon  you  ;  he  is  weak 
after  such  fits.  Come,  Brayton,  sign  the  papers,  and 
then  you  can  sleep.  Ah  !  I  see  ;  your  hand  trembles. 
Let  me  aid  you." 

Skillott  placed  his  hand  upon  Bray  ton's,  and  guided 
the  fingers  while  they  traced  "Gerald  Brayton" 

"  There,"  said  Skillott,  "  we  will  not  trouble  you 
more  — you  can  lie  down,"  and  the  Judge  laid  Bray- 
ton carefully  back  upon  the  pillow. 

"  Horrible  distemper  —  that  delirium-tremens.  He 
needs  rest  and  quiet.  Come  out  right  in  the  morn- 
ing, I  guess.  Well  enough  to  call  in  early,  but  would 
not  disturb  him  during  the  night.  ' 


368  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

Covering  Brayton  with  the  quilts,  the  two  went 
down. 

The  dead  was  alone  !  Could  the  countenance  of  the 
corpse  have  bee*,  seen  as  it  sat  on  the  bed,  and  by  the 
aid  of  the  living  traced  its  signature  ;  the  glassy  eyes 
protruding  with  dying  agony,  and  glaring  upon  va- 
cancy ;  the  distorted  features,  and  the  mouth  foaming, 
with  here  and  there  flecks  of  blood  ;  the  close-shut 
teeth,  the  throat  and  bosom  bare  as  it  had  been 
stripped  in  the  scuffle,  and  the  hair  clammy  and  mat- 
ted on  the  damp  and  ghastly  —  the  picture  of  all  that 
is  horrible  in  a  death  of  keenest  agony,  would  have 
been  presented. 

As  Hermon  turned  the  key  in  the  chamber  door, 
the  slamming  of  the  blinds  and  the  increasing  wind 
alone  disturbed  the  silence  of  the  chamber.  Swiftly 
Skillott  sped  along  the  deserted  streets  to  his  home. 

Two  hours  later,  and  the  window  in  the  chamber 
where  the  struggle  had  been,  was  carefully  raised, 
and  a  dark  shadow,  undefined  in  the  dim  starlight, 
glided  into  the  room  and  pulled  a  small,  dark  lantern 
from  a  loose  robe  which  he  wore  around  him.  Slowly 
and  silently  he  peered  towards  the  bed,  and  then  step- 
ped noiselessly  to  the  head  of  it.  He  leaned  down 
and  looked  closely  into  the  face  of  the  corpse.  He 
lifted  the  lamp  still  nearer,  and  laid  the  back  of  his 
hand  against  the  cheek.  He  recoiled  at  the  touch  ; 
but  again  and  again,  and  still  more  searchingly  looked 
down  into  the  ghastly  features,  thrusting  his  hand  into 
the  bosom  to  feel  the  heart.  He  then  lifted  the  pil- 


POISON    IX    THE    CUP,  309 

low  and  turned  it  over.  It  was  wet  with  a  slimy 
froth,  and  streaked  with  blood.  He  seemed  to  come 
to  some  satisfactory  conclusion  about  the  matter,  and 
dropping  the  hand  which  he  had  lifted  from  the  quilt, 
stood  erect.  There  was  a  dark  glitter  in  his  eye,  and 
a  paleness  around  his  sternly  closed  mouth.  A  new 
thought  seemed  to  occupy  his  attention,  and  he  glided 
to  the  door,  but  found  it  locked.  With  a  key  from 
his  own  pocket  he  unlocked  it,  and  after  listening, 
passed  down  and  into  the  bar-room.  In  the  excite- 
ment of  the  time,  Hermon  had  set  the  glass  from 
which  Brayton  drank  back  upon  the  counter,  and 
forgotten  to  rinse  and  put  it  in  the  usual  place.  It 
now  stood  where  he  left  it.  The  Hermit,  for  it  was 
he,  took  it  in  his  hand,  and  after  smelling  it  closely, 
looked  steadily  into  the  bottom.  As  he  stirred  the 
strange-looking  sediment  with  his  fore-finger,  he  ex- 
claimed with  low,  yet  bitter  energy,  "  Oh  !  ho  !  dear 
friends.  Poison  in  the  cup,  indeed !  And  the  mur- 
derers are  not  all  hung  yet !  "  He  stood  a  moment  in 
thought,  and  then  carefully  securing  the  glass,  recn- 
tered  the  hall  and  disappeared  up  the  stairs.  The 
key  was  turned  in  the  door  of  the  back  chamber,  and 
the  Hermit  was  again  alone  with  the  dead. 


CHAPTEK   XXVIII. 

TWO    MOKNLNG     CALLS A    LIVE   MAN    FOE    A   DEAD    ONE, 

DAYLIGHT  had  scarcely  dawned,  when  there  was  a 
loud  rap  at  Skillott's  door.  Again  and  again  it  was 
repeated,  each  successive  time  with  increased  energy. 
It  was  an  unwelcome  sound,  and  for  a  time  he  feigned 
slumber.  Guilt  is  ever  fearful,  and  trembles  at  the 
sound  of  every  footfall.  » 

As  the  noise  increased,  Skillott  threw  on  his  morn- 
ing gown  and  opened  the  door,  and  somewhat  bluntly 
demanded  the  cause  of  the  interruption.  He  stared 
as  he  saw  Hermon  standing  before  him,  but  it  was 
momentary.  As  blandly  as  usual,  after  affecting  a 
yawn,  he  inquired  what  was  wanting  at  so  early  an 
hour. 

Hermon  was  the  picture  of  embarrassment.  His 
flame-red  face  was  haggard,  his  manner  stealthy  and 
uneasy,  and  his  eye  restless.  Turning  his  eye  up  the 
street  to  assure  himself  that  he  was  unobserved,  he 
darted  through  the  half-opened  door,  and  closed  it  as 
he  entered.  Placing  his  back  against  it,  he  stood 
looking  Skillott  beseechingly  in  the  face. 

"  Why,  man,  what  is  the  matter  —  what  is  want- 
ing ? "  again  asked  Skillott,  with  a  well-assumed  ah 
of  fretfulness  at  so  unceremonious  an  interruption. 


TWO    MORNING   CALLS.  371 

"Brayton  is  dead!  "  whispered  Hermon,  in  a  husky 
voice,  after  looking  around  to  see  if  no  one  but  them- 
selves was  in  the  hall. 

"  Ah  !  indeed !     Died  last  night,  eh  3  " 

"Found  him  dead  before  daylight  this  morning. 
The  body  was  cold,"  and  a  shudder  crept  over  the 
hardened  landlord. 

"  That  fit  of  tremens,  then,  must  have  finished  the 
old  man." 

"Are  you  sure  —  are  you  sure,  Skillott,  that  he  died 
of  the  tremens  ?  "  eagerly  asked  Hermon  in  an  ap- 
pealing tone. 

"  Why,  how  else  could  he  have  died  ?  A  man  of 
his  age  cannot  drink  as  hard  as  he  did,  and  stand  it- 
long,  Mr.  Hermon." 

There  yet  remained  something  upon  Hermon's 
mind,  and  he  lingered.  Skillott  made  a  gesture  of 
impatience,  and  suggested  that,  as  the  matter  did  no! 
concern  him,  he  had  better  send  for  "Walter  or  the 
coroner. 

"  But,"  continued  Hermon,  with  an  air  of  abstrac- 
tion, "  s'posing  they  should  attempt  to  show  he  didn't 
die  of  the  tremens  /  what  do  you  s'pose  would  como 
of  it?" 

"  Nonsense,  man  ;  one  would  suppose  your  liquor 
killed  him,  and  that  you  expected  to  be  hung  for  it, 
from  your  manner." 

A  slight  shudder  again  crept  over  Hermon.  and 
the  sweat  stood  out  in  drops  upon  his  forehead  and 
upper  lip.  Skillott  grew  confident,  as  the  drift  of  the 


372  MINNIE    HERMON. 

former's  fears  became  apparent,  and  as  quickly  formed 
his  plan  with  which  to  hold  the  landlord  hereafter. 

"  But  liquor  would  not  poison  a  man,  you  know,5' 
placing  a  strange  emphasis  upon  the  word. 

"  You  know  best  whether  there  was  any  poison  in 
the  liquor  ;  I  saw  you  give  it  to  him." 

"  But  you  told  me  to  give  him  the  brandy." 

"  But  I  did  not  suppose  it  was  poisoned.  It  cer- 
tainly was  not  ?"  Hermon  started  at  the  question. 

"  You  know  I  have  enemies,  Skillott,  and  as  he 
died  in  my  house,  they  might  say  unpleasant  things, 
you  know  ;  and  besides,  his  signing  over  his  property 
to  you  and  me  wouldn't  help  the  matter." 

"  O,  I'll  see  to  that  matter ;  the  property  shall  not 
injure  you."  There  was  a  smile  lurking  around  the 
mouth  of  the  Judge  as  he  gave  the  assurance. 

"As  to  that  matter,  it  would  injure  you  as  well  as 
me,  both  having  an  interest  in  it." 

"  Between  you  and  me,  Hermon,"  replied  Skiliott, 
"I  feared  the  man  was  on  his  last  legs,  and  knowing 
that  you  had  many  and  bitter  enemies  who  would 
make  a  handle  of  his  death  in  your  house,  I  thought 
it  best,  on  the  whole,  to  have  the  conveyance  made  out 
in  my  name.  There  are  not  many  who  have  knowl- 
edge of  the  fact ;  but  the  truth  is,  I  have  lent  old 
Brayton  a  good  deal  of  money  within  a  few  years 
past.  It  would  be  but  right,  you  know,  that  I  should 
make  sure  of  what  he  had  left." 

"You  —  you  don't  mean  to  say  that  I  am  not  to 
have  a  shai^e  — •  to  have  charge  of  the  property !  " 


TWO   MORNING-   CALLS.  373 

"  Precisely."  blandly  answered  the  Judge.  "That 
is  best,  you  know,  until  the  storm  about  his  dying  in 
your  house  blows  over." 

"  You  didn't  say  anything  last  night  about  his 
owing  you." 

"  Nor  did  I  give  him  that  last  drink"  whispered 
Skillott,  a  slight  sneer  creeping  across  the  upper  lip. 

"  But  you  told  me  to  give  it  to  him,"  replied  the 
landlord,  deprecatingly. 

"I  did  not  tell  you  to  put  poison  in  the  glass^ 
though  !  " 

Hermon  fairly  jumped,  a  more  ominous  paleness 
spreading  over  his  countenance.  He  stood  a  moment, 
and  some  of  his  old  spirit  came  to  his  aid. 

"  Neither  did  I,  sir,  as  perhaps  others  can  testify," 
he  retorted  with  considerable  energy  and  meaning, 
pulling  a  paper  from  his  side  pocket  and  thrusting  it 
into  Skillott's  palm.  He  watched  the  Judge  as  the 
latter  traced  the  contents.  The  usual  sneer  passed 
oft'  his  features  as  he  read,  and  he  drew  his  under  lip 
thoughtfully  between  his  teeth.  Hermon  was  not  so 
far  broken  down  intellectually,  as  not  to  mark  the 
change  in  Skillott's  manner.  The  note  ran  thus  : 

"  I  have  drinked  my  last  at  the  Home.  There  was 
jymson  in  the  cup,  and  I  died  by  violence  !  The  dead 
sign  no  papers?  Old  Brayton  is  dead,  but  the  mur- 
derers we  not  hung  yet  I 

<(A  GUEST  NOT  INVITED." 


37-i  MINMlv 

''And  you  thought  to  frighten  me  by  penning  such 
BtutT  as  this,"  sneered  the  Judge  as  he  finally  lifted 
his  eyes  from  the  paper. 

"  It's  false  —  I  had  no  more  to  do  with  penning  it 
than  yon  did,"  answered  llermon  with  spirit. 

"  Where  did  it  come  from,  then  ?  I  should  like  to 
know ! " 

"  I  found  it  in  the  dead  man's  fonyers  !  " 

"  The  devil !  How  could  that  be  2  "  bluntly  asked 
the  Judge,  without  the  usual  sneer,  again  and  more 
tightly  drawing  his  under  lip  between  his  teeth,  and 
resting  his  hand  upon  a  chair,  his  gaze  still  fastened 
upon  the  paper. 

"  You  can  tell  as  well  as  I,"  doggedly  answered  the 
landlord,  regaining  confidence,  as  he  noticed  the  effect 
of  the  note  upon  Skillott. 

"  The  dead  can't  write,"  mused  the  Judge,  looking 
long  and  closely  still  upon  the  paper. 

"  But  he  might  not  have  been  dead  when  we  left 
him.  The  pen  and  ink  were  left,  you  know." 

"  It  is  strange,  strange,"  continued  Skillott,  with 
marked  uneasiness  in  his  features. 

After  leaving  Bray  ton,  on  the  previous  evening, 
Hermon  had  become  disturbed  in  his  mind  about  his 
appearance.  It  did  not  seem  to  him  like  the  delirium- 
tremens.  He  was  troubled  with  the  thought  of  his 
death  in  his  house,  and  before  daylight,  lighted  his 
candle  and  entered  the  chamber.  Brayton  lay  as 
they  had  left  him,  save  one  hand,  which  was  aciosa 
the  breast.  The  landlord  listened  to  catch  the  sound 


TWO   MORNING   CALLS.  3Y5 

ot  his  breathing ;  but  all  was  still.  With  a  quicker 
pulse  he  then  stepped  to  the  bedside  and  let  the  light 
fall  upon  the  face.  It  was  ghastly,  distorted,  horri 
ble !  He  placed  his  fingers  upon  Brayton's.  A  shud 
der  crept  from  the  dead  over  the  living,  and  Herraon 
drew  back.  At  that  moment  his  eye  rested  upon  the 
paper  in  the  dead  man's  fingers  which  he  carried  to 
Skillott.  Hermon  left  the  room  with  a  trembling 
step,  and  immediately  sought  the  glass  which  he  had 
left  on  the  counter,  but  it  was  gone.  At  early  light 
he  had  hurried  to  Skillott's  for  advice. 

"  Humph  !  This  does  look  a  little  squally  for  yon, 
friend  Hermon,  it  cannot  be  denied.  This  is  not 
Brayton's  hand-writing.  You  have  enemies  in  the 
village,  and  some  of  them  might  have  been  eaves- 
dropping last  night. 

"  But  the  door  was  locked,  and  the  key  in  my  own 
pocket.  How  could  any  one  have  got  into  the 
chamber  ?  " 

With  all  his  attempt  to  appear  careless  and  only  so- 
licitous for  Hermon's  case,  Skillott  was  troubled. 
That  paper  in  the  dead  man's  hand  —  the  contents  — 
and  the  fact  stated  by  Hermon  that  the  glass  was  mis- 
sing, had  an  ugly  look.  It  was  for  his  interest  to  as- 
sist Hermon  so  far  as  was  safe.  If  worst  came  to 
worst,  he  had  already  determined  to  turn  the  whole 
tide  of  circumstances  against  Hermon,  and  sacrifice 
him  to  save  himself.  It  was  clear  to  him  that  an  un- 
seen enemy  was  around,  and  he  felt  that  undefinable 
sense  of  dread  which  a  person  experiences  when  ex- 


376  MINNIE    HE  HMOS'. 

pecting  a  blow  in  the  dark.  At  last  a  thought  fixed 
his  attention,  and  he  entered  his  library  and  com- 
menced hunting  among  some  loose  papers.  He  came 
to  one^  and  for  some  moments  compared  the  writing 
upon  it,  with  that  on  the  note  handed  him  by  Her- 
mon.  He  had  evidently  found  a  clue.  The  paper 
hunted  up  by  Skillott  was  a  notice  of  a  temper- 
ance meeting,  written  by  the  Hermit.  There  was 
something  in  this  knowledge  besides  the  mystery  of 
the  affair,  to  give  Skillott  serious  thoughts.  The  Her- 
mit was  dreaded  by  all  the  Judge's  class.  If  that 
everywhere-present,  and  eagle-eyed  individual  had 
obtained  any  knowledge  of  the  real  state  of  things, 
he  was  an  enemy  to  be  dreaded.  Skillott's  counte- 
nance was  pale,  as  he  continued  to  compare  papers  ; 
but  he  shut  his  teeth  harshly  together,  and  a  fiend- 
ish light  gleamed  in  his  dark  eye.  The  stakes  were 
increasing,  and  the  play  was  becoming  extremely  haz- 
ardous. 

There  was  another  early  call  in  Oak  vale.  Doctor 
Howard  was  awakened  from  a  deep  slumber  by  a  sin- 
gle rap  upon  his  door.  It  was  familiar,  for  no  other 
was  ever  given  in  the  same  manner,  and  he  was  not 
surprised  when  he  found  the  Hermit  standing  upon 
the  piazza,  closely  muffled  in  his  long  robe. 

"  Who  is  sick  now,  my  friend,"  inquired  the  Doc- 
tor, yawning  and  rubbing  his  eyes. 

"ISTobody  sick  —  dead  I  n 

"  Indeed  !  who's  dead,  may  I  ask  ?  " 

"Gerald  Brayton." 


TWO   MORNING    CALLS.  377 

"  The  old  man  dead  ?  I  feared  his  habits  would 
destroy  him." 

"  Habits  did  not  kill  him.     Poisoned  !  " 

"  What !  Brayton  poisoned !  How  do  you  know 
that  ?  " 

"See  it  done — know  it!  " 

"Then  he  has  committed  suicide !  " 

"  No.     Others  committed  murder  !  " 

"Impossible!  Who  would  wish  to  poison  Gerald 
Brayton?  He  was  his  own  worst  enemy." 

"  Dont  know  who  wished  to  ;  know  they  did.  That's 
enough." 

"And  you  saw  this !  " 

"  I  did.  But  did  not  suppose  there  was  poison  in 
the  cup  until  afterwards,  or  I  could  have  saved  him. 
Thought  he  had  the  tr emeus" 

"  But  this  is  a  serious  matter.  What  evidence  have 
you  that  he  was  poisoned,  more  than  your  eyes  be- 
held ? " 

The  Hermit  carefully  drew  a  glass  from  his  innei 
side-pocket,  tightly  bound  over  the  top  with  buck- 
skin and  strings.  Untying  the  latter,  he  handed  the 
glass  to  the  Doctor. 

"  There  !  look  at  that.  He  drank  out  of  that.  A 
vial  was  emptied  into  it  first." 

Howard's  interest  was  now  aroused,  and  with  the 
Hermit  he  entered  his  office. 

"Poison  !  sure  enough,"  he  exclaimed,  after  a  care- 
ful examination,  "  and  of  the  most  deadly  kind." 

"  S  posed  so,"  was  the  brief  response  of  the  Hermit 


378  MINNIE    HERMON. 

"  But,  in  God's  name,  my  friend,  who  gave  Bray 
ton  from  this  cup  to  drink,  and  why  ?  " 

"  Know  who ;  cant  tell  why.     Guess,  though." 

"This  is  horrible.  What  must  be  done?  Who 
were  the  parties,  and  where  was  it  done  ? " 

"'Twas  more  horrible  to  see.  They  must  ha/ng. 
Parties  well  known.  Done  at  the  Home.  Ques- 
tions all  answered." 

"  What  do  you  say  !  —  at  JJermon's  f  " 

"  Just -said  so." 

"  But  we  must  know  who  there  are  in  our  midst 
who  would  do  such  things." 

"  Know  soon  enough.     Give  me  the  glass." 

Howard  mechanically  obeyed,  being  familiar  with 
the  ways  of  the  eccentric  individual  before  him.  If 
he  was  scenting  the  footsteps  of  wrong,  the  Doctor 
knew  that  he  would  be  as  wary  and  untiring  as  a 
blood-hound.  As  the  Hermit  took  the  glass  and 
again  carefully  tied  the  buckskin  over  the  top,  he 
turned  to  go. 

"When  shall  I  see  you  again?"  anxiously  inquired 
Howard. 

"  To-night.  Look  at  the  glasses  in  Hermoii }s  bar  !  " 
The  Hermit  turned  on  his  heel,  and  strode  down  the 
walk  with  more  energy  even  than  was  customary 
for  him.  Not  until  he  was  gone,  did  his  last  words 
come  with  their  full  meaning  to  the  understanding  of 
the  Doctor. 

Circumstances  proved  most  unexpectedly  favorable 
to  the  plans  of  parties  more  directly  interested  in  the 


TWO    MORNIXG   CALLS.  379 

Brayton  affair  Skillott  had  managed  the  matter  cun- 
ningly, and  by  ten  o'clock,  through  the  daily  paper 
anc1  on  busy  tongues,  it  was  circulated  that  Brayton 
haa  died  the  night  before  at  the  Home,  after  a  pro- 
tracted debauch,  of  delirium-tremens.  Such  a  result 
was  not  looked  upon  with  surprise. 

"Walter  Brayton  was  absent  from  Oakvale,  and  as 
a  friend  of  him  and  his  father,  Skillott  volunteered  to 
take  charge  of  the  investigation,  and  of  the  burial  of 
the  corpse.  The  coroner's  inquest  was  brief.  A 
number  of  persons  testified  to  the  deep  drunkenness 
of  Brayton  on  the  evening  before  his  death,  while 
Skillott  and  Hermon  testified  directly  to  the  manner 
of  his  death.  The  former  stated  that  he  had  been 
called  in  to  assist  during  the  paroxysms.  The  jury 
pronounced  a  verdict  of  "Death  by  visitation  of  Prov- 
idence !  " 

Howard  had  been  called  away  to  attend  a  sick  pa- 
tient, soon  after  his  interview  with  the  Hermit.  The 
patient  died  after  a  severe  and  protracted  struggle, 
detaining  the  doctor  until  a  late  hour  in  the  afternoon, 
As  soon  as  possible  he  returned  home,  feeling  confi- 
dent, however,  that  the  Hermit  would  watch  the  pro- 
ceedings. 

Turning  his  horse  loose  into  the  yard,  he  entered 
the  house  to  snatch  a  mouthful,  and  found  the  follow- 
ing characteristic  note  : 

"  Doctor,  the  murderers  have  planned  to  put  their 
poison  under  ground-.  Brayton  will  be  buried  before 


380  MINNIE    IIERMON. 

night,  and  dug  up  afterwards,  and  hidden.  Let  him 
be  buried.  We  will  attend  the  night  party.  Speak 
not  a  word.  HERMIT." 

In  deep  thought,  Howard  passed  over  to  the  Homo, 
where  a  large  number  were  still  assembled,  many  of 
them  disgustingly  drunk.  Sure  enough,  the  prepa- 
rations for  the  burial  of  the  corpse  were  in  an  ad- 
vanced state.  It  was  thought  that  the  body  had  bet- 
ter not  be  kept  long  imburied  1 

Howard  asked  to  see  the  corpse.  "With  a  look  at 
Skillott,  after  some  hesitation,  Hermon  led  him  to  the 
chamber.  Howard  was  immediately  satisfied  that 
Brayton  did  not  die  of  the  drunkard's  madness.  His 
experienced  eye  detected  the  unmistakable  footprints 
of  a  more  fatal  agency,  plainly  written  in  the  hue  of 
the  flesh.  He  noticed  the  marks  of  the  scuffle  upon 
the  floor,  and  turned  away.  Hermon  had  been  watch 
ing  his  eye,  and  grew  agitated  as  it  rested  upon  him. 
But  for  the  testimony  already  revealed  to  him  by 
the  Hermit,  Howard  would  have  pronounced  the 
death  one  of  strangulation. 

While  they  were  standing  in  the  room,  the  sexton 
came  for  the  corpse.  Hermon  was  repulsively  offi- 
cious, as  rumsellers  usually  are  when  at  the  funeral 
of  any  of  their  victims.  As  they  all  emerged  into 
the  street,  Howard  balanced  over  the  counter  and 
snatche<jf  one  of  the  glasses  from  the  sink  and  thrust 
it  into  his  side-pocket.  As  he,  too,  went  out,  the 
«rowd  were  following  the  corpse  to  the  burial  ground. 


TWO    MORNING    CALLS.  381 

Upon  an  awning-post  of  one  of  the  main  streets, 
the  following  notice  attracted  his  attention  : 

"  BRAYTON  WAS  MURDERED!  —  There  was  poison  in 
the  cup.  Those  who  gave  it  to  him  are  superintend- 
ing his  funeral.  They  expect  that  the  grave  will 
cover  their  guilt. 

"A  GUEST  NOT  INVITED." 

Howard  was  startled  at  the  boldness  of  this  act 
Ere  others  became  aware  of  the  charge,  the  funeral 
was  over,  and  night  had  set  in.  But  the  news  of  the 
placards  went  like  lightning,  and  became  the  subject 
of  intense  talk.  Most  of  the  people  believed  that 
Skillott,  from  his  standing,  and  the  straightforward 
testimony  at  the  inquest,  was  utterly  incapable  of  such 
a  crime.  And  besides,  there  could  be  no  motive  for  ita 
commission.  The  Judge  was  careful  to  give  currency 
to  the  belief  that  the  placard  had  been  posted  by  some 
personal  enemy. 

Late  in  the  evening  the  Hermit  again  called  at 
Howard's  office.  In  his  usual  brief  style  he  stated 
what  he  had  learned  during  the  day.  Skillott  had 
become  convinced  that  some  one  had  seen,  or  become 
acquainted  with  the  facts  of  Brayton's  death.  It  was 
evident  to  Skiliott  that  the  Hermit  was  in  the  matter  ; 
and  knowing  the  untiring  disposition  of  that  individ- 
ual, he  felt  that  prompt  and  thorough  measures  must 
betaken.  It  had  been .  arranged  that  the  body  of 
Bray  ton  should  be  taken  up  and  sunk  in  the  river, 


38%  MIXNIK    HFJRMON. 

and  the  story  started  that  it  had  been  stolen  by  the 
doctors.  The  Hermit  would  not  reveal  how  he  had 
acquired  the  information,  but  Howard  relied  upon  it. 

"  We  must  attend  the  party  to-night,"  briefly  and 
sternly  he  continued,  "  and  you  will  see  who  put  poi- 
son in  the  cup.  I  will  call  at  the  right  time.  Be 
ready." 

The  night  was  dark  and  stormy.  The  sky  was  dense- 
ly overcast  with  heavy  clouds.  A  cold,  drizzling  rain 
had  commenced  falling  about  nine  o'clock,  melting 
away  the  thin  snow  which  had  fallen  the  night  previ- 
ous, making  the  darkness  deep  and  impenetrable. 

The  pulse-beat  of  the  busy  throng  had  ceased  to 
throb  in  the  streets  of  Oakvale  ;  but  the  rain  swept 
fiercely  down  the  streets  and  around  the  corners. 
The  water  running  from  the  eave-gutters,  and  the 
creaking  of  the  signs  as  they  swayed  in  the  wind, 
were  the  only  sounds  which  mingled  with  the  fitful 
violence  of  the  storm. 

While  the  town-clock  was  slowly  chiming  the  hour 
of  midnight,  two  persons,  deeply  muffled,  carrying  a 
shovel  and  a  dark  lantern  each,  turned  oif  from  the 
main  street,  and  through  a  narrow  lane  pursued  their 
way  in  silence  out  of  the  village.  As  they  cleared 
the  settled  portions,  they  struck  into  the  fields,  and  as 
fast  as  possible  pushed  on  against  the  driving  storm. 
Coming  to  the  bank  of  the  river,  they  turned  to  the 
right  and  followed  it  up  to  the  burial  ground  and  en- 
tered. Slowly  they  hunted  among  the  graves,  stop- 
ping when  they  came  to  that  of  Brayton.  After  lis- 


TWO   MORNING   CALLS.  383 

tening  a  moment,  the  lamps  were  hidden  and  both 
commenced  with  their  shovels  to  throw  out  the  fresh 
earth.  They  were  both  strong  men,  and  the  coffin 
was  soon  reached.  The  lid  had  been  but  slightly  fas- 
tened, and  readily  gave  way  to  an  energetic  pull  at 
the  edges.  A  cold  shudder  crept  from  the  corpse 
along  the  nerves  of  the  living  as  one  of  the  diggers 
felt  for  the  face.  There  was  a  moment's  hesitation, 
and  the  hook  which  had  been  provided  was  thrust 
quickly  under  the  chin.  Both  took  hold  of  the  rope, 
and  with  united  strength  pulled  the  body  out  upon 
the  grass.  Again  they  listened,  but  there  was  no 
sound  save  the  steadily  beating  storm.  A  dark  blank- 
et had  been  provided,  in  which  the  body  was  closely 
rolled,  and  a  rope  fastened  around  the  feet.  The  lat- 
ter, after  much  difficulty,  were  drawn  closely  to  the 
head,  and  the  rope  passed  under  the  arms.  "With  a 
rail  which  had  been  brought  from  the  fence,  the  body 
was  raised  upon  their  shoulders  and  carried  towards 
the  river,  upon  the  bank  of  which  they  left  it,  and 
returned  to  fill  the  grave  and  get  their  lamps  and  tools. 
Others  than  the  grave-robbers  had  been  witnesses 
of  the  act.  Closely  hidden  near  by,  were  Howard 
and  the  Hermit.  For  two  hours  they  had  remained 
in  the  storm,  their  garments  wet  through  and  through. 
JTliey  had  obtained  a  full  view  of  the  countenances 
of  the  diggers,  as  one  of  the  lamps  had  been  held 
a  moment  above  the  grave.  As  the  body  was  borne 
off,  the  two  followed  closely,  and  barely  escaped  a 

contest  with  the  diggers  as  they  returned  to  the  grave. 
16 


384  MINNIE    HERMON. 

"Now  is  our  time,"  whispered  the  Hermit,  as-he 
laid  his  hand  on  Howard's  arm.  "  Lift." 

They  then  put  their  own  shoulders  under  the  rail, 
and  as  swiftly  as  possible  carried  the  body  to  the 
fence.  Leaving  Howard  in  charge  of  it,  the  Hermit 
returned  to  the  spot  where  it  was  first  left,  to  await 
the  return  of  the  diggers. 

The  grave  was  soon  filled,  and  the  diggers  returned 
to  the  bank  where  they  had  left  the  corpse,  design- 
ing to  fasten  a  heavy  stone  to  it  and  sink  it  in  the 
river.  They  looked  some  time  for  the  body  at  the 
point  where  they  supposed  they  had  left  it. 

"  Skillott,  Skillott,"  said  one  of  the  parties  in  a  low 
yoice,  as  he  stmrbled  against  the  Hermit,  "  I  have 
found  it ! " 

"  How  in  the  d 1  did  it  come  out  there  ?  I 

thought  we  left  it  just  by  this  little  knoll." 

"  We  didn't  steer  right  in  the  dark.  But  where  in 
the  world  is  the  rail  ?  " 

"'  Did  you  leave  it  in  the  rope  ? " 

"  Yes ;  but  it  aint  there  now." 

"  It  must  be  there  if  you  left  it  there,"  and  the  one 
addressed  as  Skillott  came  up. 

"  Good  God !  it's  warm  !  "  sharply  uttered  the  first 
speaker,  jumping  to  his  feet  as  though  lie  had  clutched 
a  viper. 

"  You  be ,  Hermon !  What  are  you  fright- 
ened at?" 

"See,  yourself!  "  answered  the  trembling  landlord, 
to1*  it  was  him. 


TWO    MORNING    CALLS.  385 

Skillott  unhesitatingly  stooped  and  touched  the 
body.  He  started  slightly  as  his  hand  encountered 
the  long  hair,  but  it  was  wet  and  cold.  He  had  for- 
gotten that  the  body  had  been  wrapped  in  a  blanket. 
Passing  his  hand  up  over  the  face,  he  found  a  thick, 
bushy  beard  ;  but  the  face  was  cold  and  wet  as  the 
hair.  Somewhat  excited  and  bewildered,  he  laid  his 
hand  upon  the  bosom  ;  still  more  amazed  as  he  found 
buttons  there.  The  next  instant  his  fingers  were  in 
the  vice-like  grasp  of  a  living  hand ! 

"  H — 1  and  furies !  "  he  almost  howled  as  he 
snatched  his  own  away.  "  This  is  no  dead  man,  or 
else  that  hand  was  yours,  Hermon.  No  fooling  with 
me!" 

"  I  havu't  touched  you,"  answered  the  trembling 
landlord,  as  he  took  a  step  or  two  back. 

Skillott  drew  his  lamp  from  his  bosom,  and  placing 
it  before  his  own  features,  let  the  light  shine  down 
before  him.  The  spectacle  presented  was  one  to 
startle  bolder  men  than  Skillott.  On  the  ground, 
stretched  at  full  length,  his  eye  glittering  in  the  dull 
lamplight,  and  his  long  hair  and  beard  wet  with  the 
storm,  was  the  Hermit.  He  gave  that  peculiar 
chuckle  as  he  was  revealed  to  the  diggers. 

"  Priest  or  devil,  take  that !  Your  foul  carrion  shall 
feed  the  fishes  too  !  " 

Lightly  the  Hermit  sprang  from  his  position,  the 
knife  which  Skillott  had  aimed  at  his  breast  sticking 
in  the  turf  where  he  had  lain.  A  sneering  ha  !  ha  ! 
answered  the  fierce  curses  of  the  baffled  digger  The 


386  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

latter  hurled  the  knife  fiercely  in  the  direction  of  the 
voice  ;  but  it  only  clinked  against  a  tomb-stone  which 
it  struck  beyond,  and  again  provoked  that  sneering 
laugh,  There  was  then  a  flash  and  a  report,  and  a 
ball  went  whistling  past  his  head. 

"  Ha,  ha,  ha !  poison  the  living  and  rob  the  dead ! 
Judge  Skillott  and  John  Hermon !  the  murderers  are 
not  all  hung  yet,"  was  echoed  back  from  a  different 
direction  than  where  the  shot  was  fired. 

All  parties  now  stood  silent  in  the  impenetrable 
darkness.  With  half-smothered  curses  and  still  more 
devilish  plans  for  meeting  the  new  danger  and  at 
the  same  time  securing  revenge,  Skillott  took  Hermon 
by  the  arm,  and  the  two  moved  carefully  towards  the 
road.  As  they  were  picking  their  way  along  by  the 
side  of  the  fence  near  the  corner  of  the  grounds,  they 
were  again  startled  by  the  unwelcome  guest. 

"  Ho  !  ho  !  gentlemen  diggers  !  Why  not  take 
along  the  body  ?  A  chemical  analysis  might  show 
who  put  poison  in  the  cup  !  ha,  ha  !  " 

The  sounds  were  close  to  the  ear,  and  Skillott  struck 
fiercely  towards  them,  but  the  blow  fell  upon  the 
fence.  The  act  was  again  answered  by  that  sneering 
laugh. 

The  idea  of  an  analysis  of  the  stomach  of  Brayton 
fixed  more  deeply  the  dark  purpose  of  Skillott.  He 
was  not  a  man  to  hesitate  when  such  dangers  thick- 
ened around  him.  Against  the  remonstrance  of 
Hermon,  he  called  at  Doctor  Howard's  as  he  entered 
the  village,  and  disguising  his  voice,  inquired  for  the 


Doctor.  Mrs.  Howard  answered  that  he  had  been 
called  away  in  the  evening,  and  had  not  returned. 
Skillott  turned  away,  passed  stealthily  around  the 
house  to  the  barn,  and  tossed  the  shovel  and  the  cord 
and  hook,  together  with  the  lanterns,  into  the  loft 
over  the  shed.  An  hour  later,  and  he  was  in  his 
office ;  but  his  sleepless  eye  gleamed  'with  unwonted 
brilliancy,  and  his  mind  was  busy  perfecting  his  dark 
schemes. 


CHAPTER    XXIX, 

TIIE   WICKED    PLOT THE   WICKED   TRIUMPH. 

EARLY  on  the  morning  succeeding  the  scenes  por- 
trayed in  the  last  chapter,  the  following  placard  ap- 
peared in  the  streets : 

"  The  grave  robbers  about !  Gerald  Brayton's 
body  stolen  last  night.  Order  loving  citizens  are  re- 
quested to  meet  at  the  Town  Hall  at  nine  o'clock,  to 
take  measures  to  protect  our  graves  from  desecration. 

"By  ORDER." 

The  excitement  was  intense.  For  two  years  past 
a  number  of  occurrences  of  the  same  kind  had  aroused 
the  community  to  the  deepest  exasperation. 

An  hour  before  the  time  appointed  in  the  call,  the 
Hall  was  crowded.  The  excited  and  indignant  pop- 
ulace gave  ominous  indications  that  summary  meas- 
ures would  be  taken,  should  the  person  or  persona 
guilty  of  the  outrage  be  ferreted  out.  A  low  rush 
of  angry  muttering,  swept  over  that  sea  of  heads. 
At  a  late  hour,  Judge  Skillott,  his  countenance  stern 
and  thoughtful,  entered  the  room,  and  in  an  unas- 
suming manner  wedged  through  the  crowd  and  took 


THE   WICKED   PLOT.  389 

his  seat.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  and  the 
Judge  unanimously  appointed  chairman  of  the  meet- 
ing. His  remarks  on  taking  the  chair  were  calm,  and 
deprecatory  of  violent  measures.  He  did  not  wonder 
at  the  high  state  of  feeling  in  the  community.  They 
had  all  been  deeply  injured  in  their  feelings.  Those 
we  loved  were  stolen  from  the  graves  where  their 
friends  had  laid  them.  A  spot  sacred  in  the  affec- 
tions of  all  who  had  lost  kindred,  had  been  repeatedly 
desecrated  by  the  sacrilegious  violence  of  grave  rob- 
bers. It  was  to  be  regretted  that  such  things  should 
occur  in  the  community.  Justice  to  themselves,  their 
reputation  abroad,  and  to  the  graves  of  their  dead, 
demanded  that  measures  should  be  taken  to  put  a  stop 
to  similar  outrages. 

As  Skillott  took  his  seat,  Dr.  Howard  entered  and 
stood  in  the  passage  in  front.  Skillott  bent  his  stern 
gaze  full  upon  that  individual,  and  with  so  direct  and 
meaning  an  expression,  that  the  attention  of  the  whole 
audience  was  drawn  to  the  doctor.  The  latter  was 
taken  by  surprise,  and  reddened  at  the  insolent  bold- 
ness of  the  man  whom  he  had  last  seen  under  such 
peculiar  circumstances.  The  Judge  turned  away,  as 
much  as  to  say,  "  Look  to  that  man."  And  so  thought 
the  fickle  crowd.  Some  of  the  sickly  pallor  passed 
away  from  the  chairman's  face,  as  he  saw  his  plan  for 
directing  public  attention  upon  the  wrong  scent  work- 
ing so  favorably. 

After  a  number  of  citizens  had  made  remarks  to 
the  meeting,  the  chairman  was  called  upon  to  give 


390  MINNIE    HERMON. 

some  advice  in  the  matter.  He  complied  with  the 
request  with  well-assumed  reluctance.  He  stated 
what  facts  had  come  to  his  knowledge  through  oth- 
ers. He  thought  a  committee  should  be  appointed  to 
make  investigations,  and  report  in  the  evening  at  that 
.place.  More  facts  than  had  yet  come  to  light  might 
probably  be  elicited.  With  prompt  and  energetic 
measures  the  body  might  be  found.  He  hoped  so, 
for  Gerald  Brayton  was  a  friend  whom  he  had  cher- 
ished with  great  regard.  The  plan  was  adopted,  and 
Skillott,  after  much  urging,  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
committee  of  investigation. 

Amazed  at  what  he  had  seen,  Doctor  Howard  had 
stood  during  the  proceedings,  lost  in  thought.  As  the 
meeting  dispersed,  he  looked  around  for  some  (me 
whom  he  had  expected  to  see  present,  but  was  disap- 
pointed. As  he  turned  he  encountered  the  keen, 
half-sneering  gaze  of  Skillott.  There  was  a  glitter  of 
some  unknown  triumph  in  that  restless  eye. 

"  Now,"  said  Skillott,  as  the  committee  prepared  to 
proceed  in  their  investigation,  "  you  will  remember 
that  thft  soil  in  the  burial  ground  is  of  a  peculiar  red, 
sticky  kind.  If  we  bear  this  in  mind  it  may  lead  to 
some  developments  as  to  the  robbers.  They  must 
have  had  tools,  and  have  worn  l>oots  or  shoes." 

Having  a  patient  to  call  upon,  Howard  left  the  vil- 
lage as  the  committee  commenced  their  search. 

The  soil  in  the  burial  ground  was  soft  and  very  ad- 
hesive from  the  effects  of  the  thaw.  The  tracks  of 
many  individuals  were  plainly  marked,  especially 


THE    WICKED    PLOT.  391 

around  the  grave  where  Brayton  had  been  buried. 
From  there  they  were  traced  to  the  bank  of  the  river, 
then  down  to  the  fence,  and  thence  across  the  field 
to  the  edge  of  the  village.  There  were  evidently 
the  tracks  of  two  persons  from  the  fence  to  the  road, 
following  each  other. 

"  Why,  if  it  were  possible,"  suggested  one  of  the 
citizens,  "  I  should  say  that  Doctor  Howard  had  been 
here,  or  some  boy.  No  man  has  so  small  a  foot." 
Skillott  said  nothing. 

The  knife  (a  spring  dirk)  was  found  by  a  grave 
stone,  and  handed  to  the  Judge.  No  other  evidences 
were  found  to  lead  to  a  knowledge  of  the  robbers. 
The  grave  was  opened  and  the  coffin  found  empty. 

"Now,  friends,"  said  the  judge,  "it  is  quite  certain 
that  the  body  was  taken  across  the  field  to  the  road 
and  to  the  village.  I  should  be  sorry  to  find  it  in  the 
possession  of  any  of  our  own  citizens.  Yet  the  search 
must  be  thoroughly  made." 

The  party  again  returned  towards  the  village,  close- 
ly scrutinizing  every  mark  which  might  give  them  a 
clue  to  the  course  of  the  robbers.  Arriving  at  Doc- 
tor Howard's  residence,  a  halt  was  made. 

"  My  friends,"  again  remarked  Skillott,  "  I  regret 
that  this  unpleasant  duty  has  fallen  upon  us.  The 
innocent,  should  not  suffer  unjust  imputations.  Here 
is  the  residence  of  Doctor  Howard.  He  is  a  personal 
friend  of  mine,  and  I  am  anxious  to  have  him  cleared 
from  all  suspicion  of  having  a  hand  in  this  sad  affair. 
At  the  meeting  this  morning,  I  thought  1  saw  a  dis- 


392  MINNIE  HERMON. 

position  to  direct  public  attention  to  him  as  one  con- 
cerned in  this  matter.  As  we  are  bound  to  do  onr 
whole  duty,  we  will  look  over  his  premises,  he  being 
a  doctor,  and  then  he  will  not  suffer  from  an  impres- 
sion so  unj  ust." 

On  explanation,  Mrs.  Howard  gave  a  ready  con- 
sent to  the  search,  she  having  full  confidence  that  her 
husband  knew  nothing  of  the  matter. 

"  It  is  n't  much  likely,"  carelessly  remarked  Skil- 
lott,  as  he  put  a  short  ladder  up  against  the  shed  and 
climbed  to  the  open  door.  His  attention  was  attract- 
ed, and  he  looked  down  upon  the  rest  of  the  crowd 
with  apparent  surprise  and  regret  at  what  he  had  dis- 
covered. Hesitating  a  moment,  he  reached  over  up- 
on the  hay,  and  pulled  down  two  shovels  and  a  rope 
with  an  iron  hook  attached.  There  was  blood  upon 
the  hook,  and  that  peculiar  red  soil  upon  the  shovels ! 
There  was  a  murmur  of  surprise  by  the  bystanders, 
and  Skillott  slowly  descended  to  the  ground  and  re- 
tired to  one  side,  thoughtful  and  sad. 

"  Gentlemen,"  said  he  at  last,  "  I  will  not  deny  that 
these  things  annoy  me  —  disappoint  me.  And  it  has 
just  occurred  to  me  that  my  position,  in  the  event 
of  a  detection  and  trial,  should  induce  me  to  have  no 
more  to  do  with  this  affair  at  the  present  stage  of  it 
The  rest  of  you  will  do  your  duty." 

Many  appreciated  the  Judge's  delicacy  in  not  wish- 
ing to  learn  of  facts  which  should  go  against  his  friend. 
That  innocent  dignitary  gave  Jud  Lane  a  meaning 
wink,  and  himself  refrained  from  further  search. 


THE    WICKED    PLOT.  393 

Under  the  hungry  scent  of  Jud  Lane,  the  hunt  was 
continued.  In  the  wood-shed  a  pair  of  boots  were 
found,  thickly  coated  with  the  red  soil,  and  their  size 
corresponding  with  the  tracks  across  the  fields.  They 
were  brought  out  and  placed  with  the  shovels.  The 
office  was  open,  but  nothing  was  found  there  of  the 
body.  The  wagon-house  was  locked.  As  the  doctor 
had  carried  the  key  with  him,  it  was  determined  to 
wrench  off  the  staple ;  a  thorough  search,  after  what 
had  been  discovered,  would  alone  satisfy  the  people. 

In  one  of  the  farther  stables,  partially  covered  with 
straw,  the  body  of  Gerald  Brayton  was  found, 
wrapped  in  a  coarse  blanket,  and  a  rope  fastened  to 
the  feet  and  under  the  arms,  and  the  mark  of  the 
hook  under  the  chin  ! 

The  crowd  stood  aghast !  They  had  not  yet  be- 
lieved that  Doctor  Howard  was  a  body  snatcher. 
His  friends  were  sad  and  silent,  while  his  many  ene- 
mies, bitter  against  him  as  a  radical  temperance  refor- 
mer, assumed  sudden  wisdom,  and  gravely  expressed 
how  long  they  had  believed  that  all  was  not  right. 

As  the  body  was  taken  into  the  yard,  Howard 
drove  in.  Stepping  up  to  the  crowd  which  stood  be- 
fore the  open  door  of  the  wagon-house,  he  somewhat 
excitedly  inquired  what  it  all  meant.  Not  one  an- 
swered, leaving  him  to  see  for  himself.  His  eye 
rested  upon  the  body,  now  divested  of  all  but  the 
shroud,  as  ghastly  and  bare  it  lay  out  upon  the 
ground,  The  stomach  had  been  taken  out  of  the 
corpse  / 


394  MINNIE  HEEMON. 

This  is  sad.  Doctor, —  a  sad  business,  which  none 
of  all  your  numerous  friends  will  regret  more  than 
myself." 

"  "What  do  you  mean,  Judge  Skillott?"  fiercely  de- 
manded Howard,  looking  searchingly  in  the  Judge's 
face. 

"  I  mean  what  I  say,  Doctor.  Appearances  are 
against  you  in  this  matter.  The  present  excited  state 
of  public  feeling  will  damage  your  case,  I  fear." 

"  Black-hearted,  unblushing  villain !  "  ground  the 
Doctor  between  his  teeth,  as  he  began  to  comprehend 
the  strength  of  the  meshes  which  his  enemy  had  wo- 
ven around  him,  "  no  one  knows  more  of  this  matter 
than  yourself  and  your  associate  in  wickedness." 

"  You  are  excited,  Doctor,  and  I  will  not  bandy- 
words  with  you,"  calmly  replied  the  Judge.  "  It  does 
not  become  my  position.  It  remains  to  be  seen  who 
knows  the  most  of  this  matter.  Officer  Gaston,  do 
your  duty."  The  huge  blacksmith,  with  honest  em- 
barrassment, stepped  forth  to  arrest  Howard,  looking 
more  like  a  culprit  than  did  the  Doctor. 

"  Friends,"  said  the  latter  in  a  calm  tone,  "  I  see 
through  this  worse  than  fiendish  scheme.  The  right 
will  yet  triumph."  But  Howard's  heart  sank  within 
him,  as  he  saw  the  skeptical  countenances  around 
him.  "With  pale  and  compressed  lip,  he  turned,  in 
company  with  Gaston,  and  ahead  of  the  crowd,  passed 
into  the  village,  after  a  brief  and  touching  parting 
with  his  wife.  He  assured  her  of  his  innocence,  and 
told  her  to  be  of  good  cheer.  The  noble  man  little 


THE    WICKED    PLOT.  395 

knew  how  deeply  laid  were  the  plans  of  his  relentless 
enemy.  Had  he  been  a  cannibal  just  imported,  his' 
own  immediate  acquaintances  could  not  have  stared 
at  him  with  a  more  morbid  curiosity.  Those  whom 
he  had  counted  strong  friends,  turned  coldly  away. 
Those  to  whose  families  he  had  often  dispensed  with  a 
liberal  hand,  turned  to  rend  him.  His  name  was 
covered  with  infamy,  and  summary  punishment  in- 
voked upon  his  crime.  Howard's  noble  spirit  waa 
grieved  at  such  treatment,  for  he  knew  his  innocence 
of  the  revolting  crime  laid  to  his  charge,  and  he  felt 
that  others  ought  to  know  as  much. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

AS  OTHER   VICTIM   IN   THE   NET THE   WICKED   STILL 

TRIUMPH. 

UNDER  pretence  of  satisfying  public  opinion,  How- 
ard's bail  was  fixed  at  an  unreasonable  sum  by  Judge 
Skillott.  The  latter  affirmed  that  he  had  no  doubt 
of  the  Doctor's  honor ;  but  the  charge  was  a  serioua 
one,  and  the  community  had  a  right  to  thorough 
measures.  It  was  now  that  Howard  felt  more  keenly 
the  base  ingratitude  of  those  who  had  fawned  around 
him.  Those  to  whom  he  confidently  looked  for  aid, 
by  one  consent  began  to  make  excuses  and  left  him. 
At  this  juncture  a  wealthy  citizen,  with  whom  he  had 
often  differed  with  much  warmth,  promptly  came 
forward  on  learning  the  facts,  and  offered  himself  as 
bail.  There  could  be  no  dispute  about  his  ability, 
and,  after  some  frivolous  objections,  he  was  accepted. 
Howard  was  satisfied  that  his  failure  to  procure  bail 
would  have  been  more  agreeable.  In  silence  he 
pressed  the  hand  of  his  unexpected  friend,  and  went 
sadly  homeward,  wondering  at  the  hollow  nature  of 
the  friendships  which  he  had  supposed  so  true.  The 
prosperous  and  the  powerful  always  have  friends. 
They  vanish  under  the  test  of  adverse  circumstances. 


A.N01UER    VICTIM    IN    THE    NET.  397 

A  "  body-snatcher  !  "  Such  was  the  term  Doctor 
Howard  heard  whispered  as  lie  went  about.  Curious 
faces  were  seen  peering  from  the  windows  as  he  passed, 
and  children  actually  shunned  him  on  the  walk.  He 
felt  like  one  branded  with  infamy.  His  business  was 
ruined  at  a  blow,  and  he  fled  to  his  own.  fireside  for 
that  sympathy  and  kindness  so  grateful  to  one  of  his 
sensitive  nature.  He  there  found  a  friend  who  clung 
the  closer  as  others  deserted. 

Walter  Brayton  did  not  return  to  Oakvale  until 
several  days  after  the  exciting  events  just  narrated. 
Sldllott  managed  to  see  him  first,  and,  as  a  friend, 
related  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  adroitly  col- 
oring the  statement  so  as  to  secure  his  own  strong  hold 
upon  Walter's  mind,  and  at  the  same  time  leave  a 
deep  impression  there  against  Doctor  Howard.  The 
latter  frankly  demanded  an  opportunity  of  speaking 
to  Walter,  but  under  advice,  the  proposition  was  al- 
most insultingly  refused.  The  circumstances  were  so 
strong  against  the  Doctor,  that  Brayton  allowed  no 
doubt  of  his  guilt  to  cross  his  mind. 

Alas  !  what  a  change  was  there  in  Walter  Brayton. 
He  had  fallen  like  a  meteor  from  his  former  high  po- 
sition. The  false  light  of  political  ambition  had  lured 
him  into  the  damning  corruptions  of  party  manage- 
ment. Fast  wedded  to  the  new  idol,  he  was  easily 
led  to  believe  that  the  only  chance  for  success  was  by 
abandoning  his  ultra  temperance  notions,  and  becom- 
ing more  liberal  in  his  sentiments  and  habits.  Skil- 
lott  was  his  teacher,  as  well  as  was  the  universal  cus- 


398  MINNIE    HERMON. 

torn  of  party  management.  He  mnst  make  himself 
pop  alar,  by  visiting  and  treating  at  the  taverns  and 
groceries.  Upon  that  large  class  which  followed  such 
practices,  depended  the  balance  of  power-  Such  a 
course  was  pursued  by  all  politicians  of  both  parties, 
which  justified  it  in  others.  The  liberal  expectant  was 
made  to  understand  that  the  taverns  and  groceries 
controlled  the  caucuses,  and  after  the  nominations, 
thousands  of  votes.  If  they  were  not  put  under  pay, 
their  influence  would  not  be  secured.  Bray  ton  felt 
all  this,  and  yielded  too  willingly  to  its  seeming  ne- 
cessity. The  office  he  wanted,  and  he  must  do  as  oth- 
ers did  to  secure  it.  From  an  occasional  glass  of  beer 
with  a  squad  of  tippling  voters,  he  rapidly  passed  to 
more  potent  liquors.  As  election  approached,  the 
descent  became  more  easy  and  rapid.  He  dreamed 
only  of  drinking,  and  after  election  resumed  his  old 
habits  of  temperance.  The  course  was  fatal !  The 
floodgate  once  up,  the  .Niagara  tide  swept  in,  and 
while  the  young  man's  eyes  were  riveted  upon  the 
glare  of  the  coveted  position,  its  silent  wave  bore  him 
more  swiftly  away  —  he  knew  not  how  swiftly.  From 
many  a  political  mass-meeting  he  was  carried  home 
drunk  !  Who  could  once  have  believed  it  of  Walter 
Brayton ' 

Walter  secured  the  nomination  for  Congress,  after 
a  hard-contested  strife.  Funds  were  scattered  liber- 
al'y,  and  meetings  held  throughout  the  District.  He 
treated  liberally,  and  drank  himself.  It  would  not 
do  to  flinch,  for  such  was  the  custom. 


ANOTHER   VICTIM    IN   THE    NET.  399 

There  were  undercurrents  in  the  progress  of  the 
canvass,  unexpected  and  inexplicable  to  Brayton. 
Reports,  most  cunningly  calculated  to  injure,  were 
circulated  in  every  direction.  They  finally  appeared 
in  handbills  and  in  the  opposition  newspaper.  He 
was  charged  with  abusing  his  father  before  he  died, 
and  of  threatening  to  kill  him  if  he  did  not  make 
over  half  of  the  legacy,  and  of  compounding  with 
those  who  stole  the  old  man's  body.  He  was  report- 
ed as  a  gambler  and  a  drunkard  —  as  accomplishing 
the  ruin  of  Minnie  Hermon,  etc.  etc.  Brayton  felt 
these  blows,  but  could  obtain  no  clue  to  their  author- 
ship. They  were  all  cunningly  devised,  and  most 
perse veringly  circulated.  Brayton  was  defeated  by 
twenty-seven  votes  !  The  result  was  a  bolt  from  a  clear 
sky  ;  for  he  had  confidently  looked  for  a  majority  of 
eight  or  nine  hundred,  even  with  all  the  unexpected 
influences  against  him.  At  one  fell  swoop,  his  fabric 
came  crashing  about  his  ears.  He  was  disgraced 
with  his  party  ;  his  money  was  gone,  and  he  in  debt. 
Walter  was  a  pitiful  wreck.  The  sudden  and  sweep- 
ing character  of  his  fall  utterly  astounded  —  crushed 
him.  He  saw  no  redemption,  and  shunned  the  public 
gaze,  plunging  with  all  the  strength  of  his  impetuous 
nature  into  dissipation  to  drown  his  reflections.  That 
was  a  strange  spectacle  —  the  wreck  of  such  a  man 
in  so  brief  a  space  of  time  —  and  as  sad  as  strange. 
Halton  and  a  few  of  his  former  friends  made  earnest 
efforts  to  arrest  him  in  his  mad  career,  but  he  sul- 
lenly repelled  them  all  Alone,  the  yet  lingering 


400  MI>TN1E    HERMON. 

currents  of  his  nobler,  better  manhood  came  throbbing 
back,  and  he  wept,  and  attempted  to  realize  the 
change  which  had  come  upon  him.  He  groped  in 
the  dark.  His  proud  spirit  at  times  rebelled,  and  the 
talons  of  the  eagle  clutched  and  wrenched  at  the 
galling  iron ;  but  the  demon  enthroned  within  him 
aroused,  and  bade  him  to  the  dramshop.  Dismasted, 
and  no  true  hand  at  the  helm,  a  once  noble  craft  was 
drifting  madly  to  destruction.  He  who  had  raised  a 
false  light  on  the  dark  shore,  had  cut  the  cable,  and 
was  now  rejoicing  in  his  work. 

A  few  weeks  after  his  defeat  he  received  a  letter 
from  the  post-office,  written  upon  the  back  of  an  old 
letter  with  a  pencil,  the  place  and  date  obliterated : 

"  WALTER  BRAYTON  :  Beware  of  the  adder's  fang. 
Judge  Skillott  and  John  Hermon  poisoned  your  fa- 
ther and  forged  the  will,  and  attempted  to  steal  the 
body  to  hide  their  guilt.     Heed  the  truth  and  ~beware. 
"A  FRIEND  IN  PRISON  AND  CHAINS." 

It  was  early  in  the  morning  when  he  received  the 
mysterious  note,  and  his  head  throbbed  over  its  con- 
tents. Did  the  note  reveal  the  truth  ?  How  came 
his  father  to  will  all  his  property  to  Skillott  ?  Was 
Skillott  a  villain?  Such,  and  a  thousand  kindred 
questions  flashed  like  shocks  across  his  brain.  He 
now  remembered  Minnie  Hermon's  warning,  and 
reasoned  of  the  probabilities  of  Skill ott's  proving  a 
knave.  It- was  difficult  to  believe  it-— he  had  shown 


ANOTHER   VICTIM   IN    THE   NET.  401 

BO  much  interest  in  his  welfare.  The  strange  noto 
had  awakened  a  new  train  of  thought,  and  for  the 
day  Walter  determined  not  to  drink  a  drop. 

The  more  he  thought  of  the  matter  the  more  un- 
reasonable it  appeared  to  him  that  his  father  should 
have  borrowed  so  much  money  of  Skillott,  or  that  he 
should  have  voluntarily,  just  at  such  a  juncture, 
willed  all  his  property  to  that  individual.  With  these 
thoughts  fastening  more  strongly  upon  his  mind,  Wal- 
ter determined  to  call  upon  Skillott  and  charge  him 
directly  with  fraud  in  the  matter.  He  began  to  feel 
astonished  that  he  had  ever  been  made  to  believe  that 
his  father  had  borrowed  five  thousand  dollars  of 
Skillott ;  for  the  Judge  had  never  been  supposed 
to  be  worth  half  that  sum,  and  he  was  not  a  man  to 
lend  money  to  those  who,  like  Brayton  at  the  time 
stated,  had  nothing  to  pay.  How  fatally  had  a  strong 
and  naturally  keen  mind  been  blinded  by  the  power- 
ful influences  of  rum  and  political  ambition. 

Brayton  had  at  once  found  an  object  to  fix  his  at- 
tention, and  arouse  the  energies  of  his  nature.  The 
bondage  of  his  besetting  vice  once  broken,  those  en- 
ergies would  recover  all  their  original  strength.  The 
more  he  thought  over  the  improbabilities  of  Skillott's 
statement  about  the  will,  the  more  he  believed  that 
his  father  came  to  his  death  by  violence. 

Clear  and  burning  as  the  noonday  sun,  Walter  saw 
why,  and  how  deeply  he  had  fallen.  He  shuddered 
as  all  the  humiliating  facts  rushed  in  before  his  clearer 
vision,  and  a  quick  glow  burned  hotly  over  his  cheek. 


402  MINNIE    HERMON 

He  staggered  with  the  racking  intensity  of  his  thoughts. 
Sharp,  rapid  and  piercing,  they  shot  like  barbed  light- 
nings into  his  heart,  until  he  clasped  his  throbbing 
temples  to  beat  back  the  pain.  Then  and  now 
Walter  Brayton  as  he  was  two  years  before,  and  Wai 
ter  Brayton  the  penniless  drunkard  !  Involuntarily 
he  leaned  over  and  looked  down  into  the  vortex  which 
his  heated  imagination  opened  before  him,  where  the 
lost  writhed  and  howled  in  their  infernal  orgies.  The 
wail,  the  curse,  and  the  unearthly  ha !  ha !  came  fear- 
fully distinct  upon  his  ear.  Upturned  to  his  gaze  wag 
one  who  wore  the  semblance  of  his  own  features,  peer- 
ing sadly  from  the  cloudy  gloom,  thick  drops  of  blood 
standing  upon  the  swollen  flesh,  and  the  limbs  wrap- 
ped in  the  slimy  coils  of  a  huge  reptile,  the  eye  of  a 
fiendish  glitter,  the  white  fangs  bared,  and  the  red 
tongue  glancing  by  the  cheek.  He  shut  his  eyes  as 
the  vision  swam  before  him,  but  he  heard  a  low  hiss. 
He  started,  but  with  eye  distended  and  glassy  again 
looked  down  into  the  gloom.  He  saw  the  head  of  the 
serpent  sway  backwards  and  forwards,  the  eye  still 
upon  him,  gradually  dissolving  like  mist,  and  again 
assuming  shape.  The  features  that  now  swayed  were 
those  of  Skillott,  though  the  same  eye  and  white  fang, 
and  glancing  tongue,  were  there. 

As  he  looked,  the  face  of  him  in  the  tighter:  ing  cons 
assumed  his  father's  features  —  white,  ghastly,  and 
the  foam  and  blood  welling  from  the  mouth.  The 
cold  sweat  gathered  damp  and  clammy  upon  Walter, 
but  he  could  not  turn  away  from  the  horrid  vision. 


ANOTHER    VICTIM    IN    THE    NET.  403 

Once  he  heard  a  low  rush,  and  a  shadowy  form  with 
wings  swept  slowly  between  him  and  the  spectacle  — • 
the  pale  and  beautiful  countenance  turned  towards 
him,  and  the  eye  melting  with  sadness,  as  she  beck- 
oned him  to  come  away.  That  was  his  mother.  An- 
othef  came,  still  more  sad — tears  lingered  on  either 
cheek.  That  was  Minnie  Hermon  ;  and  the  drunkard 
wept  as  the  familiar  shade  hovered  within  reach. 
With  the  energy  of  a  drowning  man,  Walter  grasped 
at  the  extended  hand.  There  was  a  wild,  unearthly 
howl,  and  the  serpent  leaped  upon  the  angel  forms. 
Walter  heard  the  violent  hissing  and  the  gnashing  of 
fangs,  and  then  a  low  sound  of  weeping  died  away  in 
the  distance.  The  form  first  seen  in  the  serpent's 
grasp  had  been  liberated,  while  the  monster  had  driv- 
en the  winged  shadows  away.  It  still  looked  up  to 
Walter  —  his  own  image  —  and  begged  piteously  for 
help.  But  while  that  despairing  eye  still  looked,  the 
serpent  returned,  and  slowly,  coil  upon  coil,  again 
bound  the  body  to  the  throat.  The  countenance  jf 
Skillott  still  swayed,  and  sneered,  and  hissed,  upon.the 
arched  and  scaly  neck.  Again, he  saw  a  fresh  grave 
in  the  old  church-yard,  and  by  the  side  of  it  sat  a 
huge  monster  feastin--g  upon  his  human  carrion.  The 
face  of  the  dead  was  turned  to  his  view,  and  was  the 
same  he  had  seen,  with  its  deathly  agony  and  foam- 
covered  mouth.  It  was  by  his  father's  grave ;  and 
still  new  and  horrible  sights  crowded  upon  him. 
Looming  up  in  the  distant  gloom,  was  an  altar,  and  a 
blood-red  light  slowly  spreading  its  dull  glare  upon 


404  MINNIE    HERMON. 

the  damp  atmosphere.  Upon  it  were  human  forms 
of  all  ages.  "With  the  throat  gashed  to  the  spine,  a 
manly  frame  lay  consuming.  The  mother  and  her 
child  were  there  —  the  young  bride,  the  jewel  upon 
her  finger  glancing  like  a  star  in  the  half-revealed 
gloom,  and  her  tresses  of  wavy  black  matted  in  the 
ebbing  blood  of  the  suicide  husband.  Some  of  the 
features  were  ghastly  with  disease,  and  pinched  with 
want  and  anguish.  Demons  there  gathered  to  the 
foul  feast — the  silence  startled  by  the  sounds  of  their 
infernal  revelry.  From  grated  windows  the  felon  and 
the  maniac  looked  out  upon  the  scene,  and  serpents 
slimed  up  the  scaffold,  and  fed  upon  its  shrouded  trib- 
ute. Slowly  the  monster  first  seen  glided  away,  and 
as  he  looked  again,  it  had  wrapped  the  corpse  upon 
the  scaffold,  its  head  still  swaying,  and  its  eye  upon 
him.  "Walter  saw  himself  in  the  shroud.  He  was 
again  startled  by  the  hiss  at  his  ear,  its  breath  burn- 
ing like  a  flame  upon  his  skin.  He  could  not  stir  to 
escape.  The  nightmare  of  madness  was  upon,  him, 
while  ten  thousand  devilish  forms  glided  towards  him. 
His  tongue  became  forked,  and  he  felt  the  snaky  fanga 
in  his  mouth.  His  head  swayed  on  a  scaly  neck,  and 
he  felt  the  cold,  slimy  folds  of  innumerable  serpents 
weaving  their  scaly  web  around  him.  He  answered 
hiss  for  hiss,  and  gnashed  his  fangs  as  they  did.  Each 
finger  grew  a  swaying  head  with  glittering  eye. 
They  crept  through  his  veins.  His  hair  writhed  in 
matted  locks.  The  scaffold  and  the  altar,  with  their 
blood-red  flame,  came  nearer  and  nearer,  the  rope 


ANOTHER   VICTIM   IN   THE   NET.  4:05 

changing  to  a  serpent,  the  arched  neck  bearing  the 
same  likeness  as  that  at  first  seen.  Then  came  once 
more  the  angel  shadows,  silently  and  tearfully  beck- 
oning him  away.  Springing  convulsively  to  reach 
the  outstretched  hand,  he  plunged  forward,  with  one 
wild,  agonizing  wail  for  help. 

It  was  a  fierce  struggle  which  Walter  Brayton  had 
passed  through.  In  the  horrible  delirium  of  the 
drunkard's  madness,  he  had  leaped  through  the  win- 
dow of  the  room  he  called  his  office,  out  upon  the  side- 
walk, and  fortunately  for  him,  was  first  seen  by  Hal- 
ton,  who  happened  to  be  passing  at  the  time.  With- 
out slumber,  the  frame  was  torn  with  torment  for  long 
days  and  nights.  On  one  side  were  his  friends,  on  the 
other,  death.  None  who.  have  once  seen  a  victim 
cursed  with  the  drunkard's  madness,  will  ever  wish  to 
look  upon  the  like  again.  No  human  pen  can  des 
cribe  it,  but  its  scenes  will  burn  into  the  eyeball  so 
deeply  that  they  never  pass  away.  For  the  time  be- 
ing, all  the  dread  enginery  of  hell  is  planted  in  the 
victim's  brain,  and  he  subjected  to  its  terrible  torment. 

But  Walter's  friends  were  true.  Their  efforts  and 
the  strength  of  a  good  constitution  triumphed  in  the 
conflict,  and  pale  and  trembling,  he  once  more  stood 
upon  his  feet,  the  ordeal  remaining  like  the  fearful 
shadow  of  a  horrible  dream.  He  now  doubted  his 
own  strength,  and  leaned  upon  his  friends.  From 
them  he  received  tears  and  kind  words,  and  felt  a 
heart-throb  in  every  palm.  With  them  he  went  to 


406  MINNIE   HERMON. 

the  Division  Room,  and  became  a  Son  of  Temper 
ance — a  society  just  organized  in  Oak  vale.  He  passed 
from  darkness  to  light.  He  felt  the  shackles  falling 
from  his  soul  and  limbs,  and  again  stood  up  in  the 
dignity  of  his  manhood.  His  hands  were  wet  with 
tears  when  he  was  greeted  by  his  brothers.  "With  a 
throat  full  of  emotion  and  a  swimming  eye,  he  re- 
turned the  greeting.  The  beautiful  and  sublime  ob- 
ligations had  fallen  upon  his  parched  spirit  like  the 
summer  shower,  and  the  greenness  of  his  heart  again 
bloomed ;  for  it  was  a  burning  crater  no  more.  The 
tempest-tossed  was  moored  in  still  waters.  "Walter 
found  himself  among  those  with  whom  he  had  before 
labored.  Some  of  them  had  been  saved  by  his  elo- 
quence, and  they  now  stood  around,  rejoiced  to  save 
him.  He  was  called  out  with  more  than  old-fashioned 
enthusiasm  to  make  some  remarks.  He  arose,  and 
stood  for  a  full  moment,  but  could  not  utter  a  word. 
That  silence  was  more  eloquent  than  words !  Not 
one  link  in  that  band  of  brothers  that  night,  which 
did  not  glisten  to  a  pure  and  holy  tear.  Arm  in  arm 
with  Halton,  Walter  passed  out  of  the  Division.  The 
cool  night  air  was  like  a  calm  kiss  upon  his  cheek. 
He  felt  like  a  new  man  — that  Walter  Brayton  was  a 
drunkard  no  more !  The  thought  was  unutterable 
joy.  He  looked  out  upon  those  around  him,  and  up 
to  the  clear  blue  sky.  Every  star  seemed  a  beacon 
which  smiled  like  an  angel's  eye.  The  sky  looked 
bluer  and  the  stars  brighter.  His  own  heart  was 
stronger  and  holier,  and  he  went  to  his  humble  room 


ANOTHER    VICTIM   IN   THE   NET.  .          407 

with  a  steady  and  manly  tread.  His  friends  would 
have  persuaded  him  to  go  with  them,  but  he  wished 
to  be  alone.  In  the  still  solitude  of  his  room  he  knelt 
down  till  hours  went  by.  No  words  dropped  from 
his  lips,  but  every  heart-throb  beat  up  against  Heav- 
en with  its  freight  of  gratitude,  and  ebbed  back  witr 
a  blessed  light  upon  its  crest.  A  dark  ocean  was  be- 
hind him  —  a  brighter  future  before.  He  thought 
of  his  mother  and — yes  —  Minnie  Hermon.  The 
strong  heart  was  broken  up,  and  a  warm  flood  of 
tears  sealed  the  compact  with  himself,  his  mother  in 
Heaven,  and  God.  With  none  but  the  stars  to  look 
down  upon  him,  he  passed  out  into  the  silent  streets, 
and  walked  another  hour  to  make  sure  that  his  limbs 
were  free. 
—  "Walter  TJrayton  was  saved  ! 

IT 


CHAPTEK    XXXI. 

THE   SECRET   OUT A   FATAL   WAGER. 

BITTER  sorrow  was  surging  in  the  old  heart  of  the 
Widow  Weston,  and  the  pleasant  chiming  of  the  Sab- 
bath bells  was  unheeded  by  her.  Her  bowed  frame 
was  bitterly  convulsed  with  agony  too  keen  for  the 
old  to  suffer.  A  regulated  curse  had  slimed  her 
hearth,  and  left  her  a  drunken  son  and  unutterable 
woe.  Tears  too  bitter  and  scalding  for  the  innocent 
to  shed,  were  crushed  out  by  an  iron  heel,  and  dripped 
their  way  down  the  withered  cheek. 

Colonel  Weston  had  been  the  very  soul  of  honor. 
He  was  a  gentleman  and  a  nobleman  by  nature. 
He  was  magnanimous  to  a  fault,  generous,  affable, 
upright,  and  genial-hearted.  He  was  a  friend  of  the 
poor,  the  stay  and  pride  of  his  widowed  mother,  a 
tower  of  strength  in  his  party,  and  an  ornament  to 
the  social  circle. 

The  rum  business  of  Oakvale  had  swept  under  the 
stalwart  oak,  and  the  lordly  trunk  lay  prostrate.  The 
generous  and  great-hearted  Weston  had  become  a 
drunkard.  The  blow  seemed  more  than  the  widow 
could  bear.  With  her  dim  eyes  wet  with  tears  she 
had  pleaded  with  men  that  he  might  be  spared  to  her 


THE   SECRET   OUT.  409 

in  her  last  days.     She  had  wrestled  with  God,  and 
yet  the  storm  beat  unchecked  upon  her  hearth. 

On  the  morning  we  have  introduced  the  Widow 
"Weston  to  the  reader,  she  had  felt  that  she  could 
suffer  no  more.  Had  he  been  brought  home  dead 
and  no  stain  upon  him,  she  would  not  have  murmured ' 
at  the  stroke,  though  that  stroke  swept  away  all.  But 
at  daylight  he  had  been  brought  home  drunk,  and 
placed  helpless  upon  her  bed.  Her  heart  would  re- 
bel ;  she  did  not  curse  God,  but  she  cursed  men.  Why 
must  the  only  link  left  her  of  her  kindred  upon  the 
earth,  be  thus  cruelly  wrenched  away  and  broken, 
and  her  home  filled  with  desolation  ?  Why  should 
she  be  robbed  of  an  only  son  late  in  the  evening  of 
her  life  ?  The  doctrine  that  a  removal  of  dramshops 
would  prove  unconstitutional  and  infringe  upon  the 
natural  liberties  of  men,  had  never  entered  the  pooi 
old  widow's  mind  !  She  felt  the  rough  iron  in  her  in- 
most soul,  feathered  by  government  and  sped  by  a 
licensed  hand.  She  could  not  wrench  it  out.  Could 
she  have  done  so,  another  and  another,  from  a  never 
exhausting  quiver,  would  have  entered  the  same 
wound.  Poor  Niobes  —  the  wives  and  mothers  of 
our  land  —  they  cannot  shield  a  single  heart  from  the 
remorseless  hunters.  They  have  bought  of  govern- 
ment, for  a  price,  the  blood  of  the  victims,  and  the 
victims  must  be  slain.  On  their  carrion  the  agents 
of  the  State  grow  fat,  entering  the  wretched  homea 
and  sitting  by  the  hearth  at  their  lawful  feast  of  ruin 
and  death.  We  cannot  wonder  that  those  who  feel 


410  .         MINNIE   HEKMON. 

all  this  weight  of  woe,  do  not  comprehend  the  justice  or 
necessity  of  that  policy  which  is  the  producing  cause. 
They  have  not  yet  learned  that  the  red  plowshare  of 
ruin  which  rips  up  their  hearthstones,  is  so  regulated 
as  to  be  harmless  and  constitutional. 

With  many  misgivings,  Mrs.  Weston  had  consent- 
ed to  the  mortgage  of  the  old  homestead,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  procuring  funds  for  her  son  to  engage  in  bu- 
siness in  Oakvale.  She  could  not  see  it  all  clear, 
when  he  told  her  that  there  was  no  harm  in  engaging 
in  the  wholesale  liquor  business.  The  step  was  a  fa- 
tal one,  as  she  feared  from  the  first.  Weston  found 
his  partner  a  sharper,  and  the  funds  he  put  into  the 
establishment  were  soon  swallowed  up.  In  a  few 
months  he  found  himself  a  bankrupt,  and  arrested  at 
the  instigation  of  his  partner,  on  a  charge  of  obtain- 
ing property  under  false  pretences,  because  he  had 
mortgaged  the  homestead,  on  which  his  mother  had 
a  life-lease.  These  results,  combined  with  habits  pre- 
viously formed,  and  greatly  increased  during  the  busi 
ness,  utterly  prostrated  Weston's  proud  spirit.  His 
pride  was  stung.  That  nice  sense  of  honor  and  high 
tone  of  feeling  \vhich  were  so  characteristic  of  the 
man,  could  not  brook  his  reverses,  and  his  firmness 
gave  way  to  his  besetting  vice.  He  became  reckless 
and  yielded  to  rum  and  its  kindred  evils.  Yet,  to  the 
last  of  his  career,  he  never  forgot  the  poor ;  and  a  cloud 
of  charities  unseen  by  the  public  eye,  were  dispensed 
from  a  hand  trembling  with  the  drunkard's  premature 
palsy. 


THE   SECRET   OUT. 

When  Colonel  Weston.  entered  the  rum  business  in 
Oak  vale,  the  editor  of  the  new  temperance  paper  just 
started,  alluded  to  the  enterprise,  and  wondered  that 
a  man  of  so  much  intelligence  and  real  nobleness  of 
heart  should  engage  in  so  disreputable  a  business. 
Colonel  Weston  was  induced  to  believe  that  the  plain 
spoken  editor  was  an  enemy,  and  always  met  him 
coldly.  As  they  passed  each  other  one  afternoon, 
Weston  reeling,  Brantford,  the  editor,  turned  to  watch 
his  steps.  For  some  reason,  Weston  had  also  turned 
to  notice  his  supposed  enemy,  and  their  eyes  met. 

"  Colonel  Weston,  how  are  you  ?  "  said  Brantford, 
impulsively  stepping  forward  and  offering  his  hand. 
Weston  looked  indignant. 

"  Well  enough.  Why  should  you  ask  ?  "  drawing 
himself  proudly  up. 

"  Because  I  am  your  friend." 

"  You  are  an  enemy,  sir,  and  I  cannot  give  yon  my 
hand." 

"  Weston,  I  am  not  your  enemy.  God  knows  I  am 
a  friend.  Will  you  not  believe  it  ?  " 

"  How  can  I  ?  "  still  withholding  his  hand. 

"  Colonel  Weston,"  answered  Brantford,  in  tones 
low  and  tremulous  with  emotion,  "  look  in  my  eye, 
and  let  your  own  heart  tell  you  whether  Thomas 
Brantford  is  an  enemy !  "  Brantford  was  a  bold, 
plain-spoken,  honest  temperance  reformer  ;  but  under 
his  unassuming  exterior,  beat  a  heart  as  warm  and 
true  towards  his  fellow-man,  as  ever  battled  for  his 
He  still  stood  with  his  hand  extended  and  his 


4:12  MINNIE   HERMON. 

usually  dull  eye  flooded  with  tears.  Weston  looked 
Bteadily,  astonished  that  he  had  known  so  little  of  the 
real  character  of  the  much-belied  editor.  The  eye 
told  the  truth.  "Weston's  lip  quivered  as  he  looked, 
his  own  red  eyes  filling  until  they  overflowed. 

"And  you  are  a  friend  of  mine ! "  he  eagerly  ex- 
claimed. "  Why  should  you  be  \  "  grasping  the  ex- 
tended hand  firmly  in  his  own. 

"  I  am  a  friend  to  every  noble,  high-minded  man. 
I  know  of  none  towards  whom  I  feel  more  friendly 
than  yourself.  You  have  quite  misunderstood  me, 
Colonel." 

"I  feel  —  I  know  that  I  have,  but  I  did  not  think 
it !  But,"  and  he  hesitated,  as  he  dropped  his  eyes  to 
the  walk,  "  I  do  not  deserve  your  friendship ;  I  am  not 
high-minded  and  noble.  "Weston  is —  my  God !  thai 
he  should  ever  be  compelled  to  say  it !  —  is  de- 
graded !  " 

"  Enough,  Colonel ;  I  know  all  that,  as  an  honest 
man,  you  would  say.  Let  the  past  go.  You  have  a 
host  of  friends  yet." 

"Friends  !  "  "Weston  bitterly  replied,  as  if  lost  in 
thought.  "  They  were  not  friends.  They  all  shun  the 
penniless  ,  God  !  Brantford,  I  can't  say  it." 

"  I  know  all.  You  need  not  say  it.  Don't  let  the 
world  say  it  longer.  I  can  find  friends  who  will  stand 
by  you." 

"  Where  f  "  I  did  not  suppose  I  had  more  than  one 
friend,  my  —  my  mother.  God  knows  I  do  not  de- 
serve her  —  the  best,  yet  most  deeply  injured/' 


THE   SECRET   OUT.  413 

"  She  never  deserts,  Colonel.  Go  to  her.  If  it 
vrere  necessary,  I  would  give  this  arm,"  laying  the 
left  hand  upon  the  right  shoulder,  "  to  send  you  Lack 
to  her  all  that  you  once  were."  Weston  wrung  Brant- 
ford's  hand  fiercely,  but  his  features  were  now  black 
with  despair. 

"  That  would  do  no  good.  I  am  lost !  You  do  not 
know  how  deeply  I  have  fallen.  I  am  disgraced  and 
penniless.  Worse  than  that :  I  have  well  nigh  beg- 
gared my  mother.  $"0,  no  ;  it's  of  no  use.  I  can't 
be  saved  ;  I  am  not  worth  saving.  The  quicker  I  am 
dead  the  better.  I  cannot  live  so." 

"  But  your  mother  !     She  needs  you." 

"  There  'tis  again.  She  is  now  heart-broken.  It 
will  be  cruel  —  to  weep  over  the  grave  of  her  drunk- 
en child !  Merciful  God  !  were  this  demon  driven  out, 
and  I  what  I  once  was  —  what  you  now  are,  Brant- 
ford — and  knew  that  she  would  shed  her  holy  tears  for 
a  sober  child  in  his  grave,  I  would  joy  to  be  drawn 
into  quarters  —  I  would  die  a  thousand  deaths.  To 
die  a  drunkard  !  "  and  the  strong  man  sobbed  convul- 
sively. "  O  how  dark  an  end  is  that !  They  will  write 
it  on  the  stone,  '  Colonel  Weston  died  a  drunkard  !  ' 
And  that  other  world  —  you  believe  in  the  future, 
Brantford  —  what  of  that?  All  dark  and  hopeless! 
But,"  and  he  looked  eagerly  into  Brantford's  face, 
"  they  won't  sell  me  ruin  there,  will  they  ?  My  hell 
is  bad  enough  now  !  " 

His  manner  was  wild,  desperate,  hopeless.     Brant- 


4:14  MINNIE    HERMON. 

ford   plead  long  and  earnestly,  but  "Weston  would 
make  no  promise. 

"  Good-bye,  my  friend  —  I  know  you  are  such.  If 
you  do  not  see  me  again,  tell  others  to  shun  my  foot- 
steps. I  have  tried  my  teeth  in  vain  upon  my  fetters, 
There  is  not  a  dealer  in  the  village  who  will  not  sell 
me  rum  while  I  have  money  to  pay  for  it.  Remem- 
ber my  —  you  know  who  —  my — 

"Mother?" 

"  Yes.  I  cannot ;  it  is  too  holy  a  word  for  me  to 
speak.  Had  I  listened  to  her  counsel,  I  should  not 
have  been  thus.  But  it  matters  not ;  it  will  sooii  be 
over.  Good-bye !  " 

Brantford  watched  Weston  until  he  turned  down 
the  street  and  was  out  of  sight.  From  that  night's 
revel  he  was  carried  home  as  we  have  seen  him  at 
the  commencement  of  the  chapter.  As  Mrs.  Weston 
knelt  over  his  form  and  brushed  the  matted  locks  from 
the  brow,  and  imprinted  a  kiss  upon  the  parched  lips,, 
she  found  the  brand  of  the  curse  between  her  and 
her  child.  The  fumes  of  rum  polluted  the  lips,  and 
went  down  like  a  dark  cloud  into  her  soul.  The 
kisses  which  had  been  sealed  upon  the  pure  lips  of 
childhood,  had  been  burned  away  by  the  fiery  flood 
of  intemperance. 

Two  weeks  later,  Thomas  Brantford  sat  at  the  table 
of  Mrs.  Weston,  and  the  subject  of  the  new  temper- 
ance organization  was  introduced. 

"  I  suppose,"  remarked  the  widow,  as  she  laid  her 


THE   SECRET   OUT.  415 

hand  upon  the  tea-pot,  "  that  yon  are  a  Son  of  Tem- 
perance ? " 

"  I  am,"  was  the  unhesitating  answer. 

"  Your  Order,  as  you  call  it,  I  believe,  is  a  secre 
society,  is  it  not,  Mr.  Brantford  ?  " 

"  As  I  understand  the  term,  it  is  not." 

"  But  you  do  not  admit  every  one,  do  you  ? " 

'•Certainly  not ;  but  our  members  are  all  known, 
as  is  the  place  where  we  assemble,  and  our  object — • 
that  is  openly  avowed." 

"  You  have  some  ceremonies,  I  suppose  ? " 

"  We  have.  But  none  but  what  God  himself  could 
approve,  if  properly  conducted.  They  are  simple, 
pure  and  impressive." 

•    "  But  you  are  bound  by  your  oaths  not  to  reveal 
the  secret,  whatever  it  is  ? " 

"  "We  have  no  oaths,  and  no  secrets  which  we 
should  be  ashamed  to  have  the  world  know,  so  far  as 
their  character  is  concerned.  The  pledge  of  an  hon- 
orable man  is  our  strongest  obligation." 

"You  do  deny  that  your  society  is  a  secret  one, 
then?" 

"  Why,  to  be  sure,  we  have  some  business  matters 
that  are  kept  secret,  as  it  is  termed.  It  is  necessary 
that  they  should  be  kept  so.  They  concern  none  but 
ourselves,  and  the  business  we  oppose." 

"  If  I  should  tell  you  the  secret,  Mr.  Brantford, 
would  you  frankly  acknowledge  it  ?  " 

"  Why,  as  to  that,  Mrs.  Weston,  we  are  obligated 
not  to  reveal  any  of  the  private  affairs  of  the  Order," 


416  MINNIE   HERMON. 

"  Just  as  I  thought.  You  ha/oe  secrets,  then,  which 
you  dare  not  —  are  bound  not  to  reveal." 

"  If  you  had  promised  to  keep  a  neighbor's  secret, 
would  you  reveal  it,  though  there  should  be  no  oath 
in  the  matter  ?  Or,  if  something  occurred  in  your 
family  which  you  felt  had  better  be  kept  to  yourself, 
would  you  feel  that  you  were  doing  wrong  to  do  so  ? " 

"  Not  a  whit,  Mr.  Brantford.  But  there  has  some- 
thing occurred.  I  have  a  secret  which  I  want  you 
to  know." 

"  You  will  probably  violate  no  obligation  in  reveal- 
ing it?" 

"  No,  I  am  under  obligation  rather,  to  out  with  it. 
And,  sir,  I  will  make  you,  Son  as  you  are,  own  the 
secret  of  your  Order." 

"  It  may  be." 

The  tea  was  smoking  in  the  cups,  but  so  earnestly 
had  the  conversation  been  carried  on,  that  neither 
had  yet  commenced  eating.  Mrs.  Weston  wiped  her 
glasses,  and  in  a  more  serious  tone  began  : 

"  I  need  not  tell  you,  Mr.  Brantford,  about  the  his- 
tory of  the  past.  You  know  the  Colonel  —  you  know 
it  all.  He  is  my  only  child.  A  mother  may  be  par- 
tial, I  know  ;  but  I  may  say  that,  aside  from  the  fear- 
ful habit  which  has  so  grown  upon  him,  he  is  all  that 
a  mother  could  wish.  He  is  the  only  one  left  me 
to  love —  the  idol  of  my  old  age.  You  are  awa~e  of 
his  habits  ;  but  you  know  nothing  of  the  sorrow  they 
have  wrought  for  me.  I  cannot  tell  it,  and  God  only 
knows  it.  I  have  loved  the  boy  with  all  the  bound 


THE   SECRET   OCT. 

Jess  depth  of  a  mother's  love,  and  have  leaned  upon 
him  as  my  feeble  steps  have  neared  the  grave.  I  have 
prayed,  and  plead,  and  wept,  and  suffered  on,  until 
it  seemed  that  my  poor  heart  could  bear  no  more. 
Oh,  it  is  cruel  to  receive  harsh  language  from  a  child 
so  loved.  See  here  ? "  and  she  bared  her  withered 
arm,  "  here  is  a  secret  which  you  will  not  reveal. 
Three  weeks  ago,  while  intoxicated,  he  struck  me, 
and  the  blow  entered  my  very  soul.  It  is  hard,  Mr. 
Brantford,  to  have  a  blow  from  such  a  hand  —  hard." 
She  leaned  back  in  her  chair,  and  wiped  the  tears 
from  under  her  glasses.  "  You  remember,"  she  con- 
tinued, how  he  was  brought  home  two  Sabbaths  agO; 
and  his  severe  sickness.  Night  before  last,  two  stran- 
gers came  and  inquired  for  him.  My  heart  fluttered, 
and  I  know  I  was  short  with  them  ;  but  really,  I  feared 
they  were  some  of  his  drinking  companions,  and  ] 
dreaded  the  worst.  They  were  courteous,  however,  and 
I  showed  them  into  his  room.  I  grew  more  suspicious 
as  they  closed  the  door  behind  them  and  entered  into 
conversation.  You  will  forgive  me,  Mr.  Brantford, 
but  I  could  not  help  watching  them  through  the  key- 
hole. I  was  determined  that,  if  they  were  his  tavern 
companions,  he  should  not  leave  the  house  with  them. 
My  son  was  sitting  on  the  bed  with  tears  in  his  eyes, 
and  one  of  the  strangers  each  side  of  him.  I  saw 
them  shake  hands,  and  then  the  strangers  went  out. 
To  all  my  anxious  inquiries,  I  could  get  no  answer. 
Last  night  the  same  individuals  came  again,  and  my 
son  commenced  putting  on  his  things  to  leave  with 


4:18  MINNIE    HERMON. 

them.  With  a  sad  but  strong  heart,  I  placed  my  hand 
upon  his  arm,  and  looked  beseechingly  in  his  eye.  '  I 
must  go,  Mother,'  (he  answered  me  kindly,)  '  it  is 
business  of  importance ;  but  I  will  be  home  early.' 
They  passed  out,  and  I  turned  away  to  pray.  I  wres- 
tled with  God,  and  my  prayers  were  answered.  About 
ten  o'clock  I  heard  footsteps  on  the  walk,  and  my 
heart  grew  still  with  dread.  Thank  the  good  God, 
Mr.  Brantford,  they  were  steady.  The  door  was 
thrown  open,  and  my  son  stood  upon  the  threshold. 
It  seemed  as  though  I  should  sink  as  I  watched  him  ; 
but  my  heart  bounded  with  new  hope  —  he  was  not 
drunk  !  No,  Mr.  Brantford,  he  wasn't  drunk  !  Com- 
ing towards  me,  he  put  his  arms  around  my  neck  as 
he  used  to  when  a  child,  and  I  felt  the  warm  tears  as 
he  kissed  me  again  and  again.  I  was  so  happy,  Mr. 
Brantford  !  "  and  again  she  wept  in  silence.  "At  last 
he  said,  '  Mother,  my  own  deeply  injured  mother,  can 
you  ever  forgive  me  ?  Look  on  me  now.  I  am  sober. 
Yes,  Mother,  I  am  free.  Hear  that !  free,  and  a  man 
once  more.  I'll  love  you  now  as  I  once  did,  and  you 
shall  love  me  again.  Will  you  not,  my  Mother  ?  We 
will  forget  the  dark  past.  You  shall  dry  your  tears 
and  be  happy  again.  'No  more  sorrow  here  —  no 
more  unkindness.  God  forgive  me,  Mother !  but  I 
will  not  strike  you  again.  I  will  be  all  that  a  son 
should  be  to  so  good  a  parent  —  my  only  one.  Look 
up  !  Mother,  I  am  a  Son  of  Temperance  !  Don't 
that  make  your  old  heart  glad  ? '  I  knelt  down,  and 
it  seemed  to  me  that  my  heart  never  so  went  out  in 


THE   SECRET   OUT.  419 

prayer  to  God  for  so  much  good.  My  son  still  clung 
to  my  hand,  and  when  I  arose,  I  noticed  that  the  two 
strangers  had  entered,  and  were  kneeling,  also.  My 
son  is  saved  ;  and  O !  I  am  so  happy.  Now,  Mr. 
Brantford,  I  have  found  out  the  secret  of  your  Order. 
It  is  to  meet  the  returning  prodigal,  and  to  restore 
him  to  those  who  mourn  for  him  as  one  lost,  and  make 
old  hearts  and  homes  happy.  Isn't  that  it  ?  "  Brant- 
ford  raised  his  head  from  his  hand,  and  with  a  wet 
cheek,  replied  with  a  monosyllable. 

"  And  may  the  widow's  God  prosper  the  Order  in 
all  lands,"  fervently  ejaculated  Mrs.  Weston. 

While  Colonel  Weston  was  engaged  in  the  liquor 
business,  one  of  his  peddlers  had  sold  liquor  to  a  tav- 
ern-keeper in  a  village  upon  the  canal.  After  much 
solicitation  from  the  assignees,  he  consented  to  go  and 
collect  the  bill. 

Weston  reached  the  village  on  Friday  night,  and 
put  out  his  horse  at  the  tavern  where  the  liquor  had 
been  sold.  A  company,  of  questionable  character, 
was  assembled  for  a  dance.  Somewhat  at  a  loss  for 
something  to  amuse  himcelf  about,  Weston  thought 
he  would  dance  one  figure,  and  then  retire  to  his  bed. 
He  danced  again  and  again,  liquor  in  the  meantime 
flowing  freely  above  and  below.  After  refusing  to 
drink  several  times,  he  was  taunted  by  one  of  the 
managers  with  a  disposition  to  "sneak,"  and  not  stand 
his  part.  This  was  touching  Weston  in  a  tender  point 
—  and  besides,  the  smell  and  presence  of  the  liquor — 
the  gurgling  sound,  the  jingle  of  glasses,  and  the 


420  MINNIE  HERMON. 

drumming  of  the  toddy-stick,  had  aroused  the  not-jet 
weakened  enemy  in  his  bosom.  Excited  and  waver- 
ing, he  thought  lie  would  drink  slightly  and  get  out 
of  the  scrape. 

An  hour  later,  and  Weston  was  mad  with  rum. 
He  alternately  drank  and  danced  until  morning.  The 
bar-room  was  crowded,  and  the  revel  continued  there. 
While  the  company  were  drinking  around,  as  they 
called  it,  a  notorious  young  sot  came  in  from  the  vil- 
lage, and  took  a  part.  He  had  already  squandered  a 
fortune  of  forty-thousand  dollars,  left  him  by  his  father. 
This  young  man,  whom  we  will  call  Hoover,  finally 
gave  Weston  a  challenge.  He  said  he  could  drink 
any  man  drunk  from  Oakvale.  Weston  was  in  just 
the  mood  to  accept  the  wager,  and  did  so.  The  bar 
was  left  wholly  to  the  contestants,  and  Monongahela 
whisky  produced  for  the  trial.  With  that  disposition 
to  be  honorable  and  fair,  characteristic  of  the  man, 
Colonel  Weston  every  time  poured  out  the  two  glass- 
es, and  gave  Hoover  his  choice.  They  kept  up  the 
strife  until  they  had  drank  nearly  a  quart  each. 
Twice  in  that  time,  Hoover,  as  usual  with  him  on  such 
sprees,  had  stolen  out,  and  there  threw  his  liquor  from 
the  stomach,  while  Weston  would  have  scorned  such 
an  act. 

Two  more  glasses  stood  ready  on  the  counter,  and 
Hoover  was  asked  to  take  his  choice.  lie  turned  his 
liquor  off  with  a  steady  hand.  Weston  took  his  in  a 
trembling  grasp,  and,  drinking  but  a  portion  of  it, 
set  the  glass  heavily  down  and  turned  away.  But 


THE   FATAL   WAGER.  421 

• 

no  hand  was  readied  in  to  guide  him  out  from  that 
band  of  jeering  devils.  He  was  sneered  and  hissed  at 
for  yielding.  His  pride  was  touched,  and  he  turned, 
grasped  the  glass  with  both  hands,  turned  the  con- 
tents all  off,  and  with  a  sickly  smile  upon  his  counte- 
nance, fell  heavily  forward  upon  the  bar-room  floor, 
dead  !  He  was  carried  out  and  rolled  for  the  purpose 
of  getting  the  liquor  out  of  his  stomach.  "While  un- 
dergoing this  process,  Hoover  stole  his  money  from 
his  pocket  1 

"Weston  was  carried  into  an  upper  room,  and  with- 
out a  friend  to  watch  or  a  mother  to  weep,  left  while 
the  revel  went  on  below.  There  lay  the  corpse,  the 
eyes  glaring,  the  arms  flung  out,  and  the  liquor  well- 
ing up  and  out  of  the  distorted  mouth, —  therS,  on 
Sabbath  morning,  and  in  the  bar-room  below  were 
forty-two  drunken  revelers  !  The  tavern  was  under 
the  usual  regulations  as  per  law  ! 

The  news  of  Weston's  death  was  broken  tenderly 
to  his  mother. 

"  My  son  dead !  How  did  he  die,  Mr.  Holley ;  tell 
me,  how  did  he  die  ?  " 

"  He  died  in  a  fit,  I  believe." 

"  God  Almighty  be  thanked  for  that,"  she  sobbed, 
as  she  locked  her  hands  together  and  turned  her 
streaming  eyes  upward.  "  Yes,  I  thank  God  for  that. 
Though  my  all  is  taken  away,  yet  he  did  not  die  a 
drunkard  !  " 

Mr.  Holloy  and  the  friends  believed  it  would  be 
kindness  to  keep  the  truth  from  Mrs.  Weston.  Brant- 


422  MINNIE   HEBMON. 

ford  did  not  give  them  in  his  paper.  But  the  widow 
learned  the  particulars  at  last,  and  the  wound  of  his 
death  bled  deeper  than  at  first. 

"God  forgive  me,  but  I  curse  them.  They  killed 
my  son,  and  I  curse  them.  Why  did  that  man  give 
him  drink  ?  Had  he  come  at  night  and  shot  my  boy 
at  my  hearth,  I  could  have  knelt  down  and  blessed 
him.  But  he  killed  him  —  he  killed  him  !  O  God ! 
this  is  bitter  indeed,  and  hard  to  bear.  Now  give 
me  the  rest  of  the  grave,  for  all  is  dark  to  me." 

The  stricken  woman  swayed  and  sobbed  in  the  old 
arm  chair,  and  found  the  heart  yet  full  of  its  scalding 
flood,  every  drop  more  bitter  than  ever  before. 

—  Mrs.  Weston  still  lingers  at  the  homestead,  her 
gray  hairs  going  down  in  sorrow  to  the  grave.  The 
property  value  of  a  quart  of  Monongahela  whisky 
was  saved  by  the  rum-dealer,  a  defenceless,  unoifend- 
ing  old  woman  robbed  of  her  only  son,  and  society 
of  a  talented  and  noble-minded  citizen!  It  would 
have  been  tyrannical  and  unconstitutional  to  have 
destroyed  that  quart  of  liquor ;  but  it  was  all  right 
and  legal  and  constitutional  to  destroy  a  man  like 
Colonel  Weston,  and  wring  his  mother's  heart  with 
worse  than  savage  torture! 

• 


CHAPTEK   XXXII. 

A   GROUPING   OF   SCENES. 

AMONG  those  who  regretted  Walter  Bray  ton's  re- 
form was  Skillott ;  for  new  fuel  had  been  added  to 
the  hatred  of  the  latter.  Walter  had  called  upon  him 
and  made  inquiries  in  relation  to  the  Will,  and  about 
the  money  which  the  Judge  pretended  that  the  elder 
Brayton  had  borrowed.  The  inquiry  was  unwelcome, 
and  the  searching  tone  in  which  it  was  made  was  sug- 
gestive to  the  suspicions  of  the  uneasy  dignitary  ;  and 
he  answered  tartly,  and  intimated  that  he  did  not 
wish  to  hear  any  more  about  the  matter  from  one  who 
was  rngrateful  and  ready  to  be  put  up  to  abuse  him 
when  he  had  done  so  much  for  him.  This  language 
aroused  Brayton,  for  he  had  learned  of  Skillott's 
treachery  in  the  canvass  at  the  time  he  vtras  up  for 
Congress,  and  he  charged  the  Judge  with  being  the 
author  of  the  slanders,  and  the  cause  of  his  defeat. 
Ilot  words  ensued,  and  Brayton  openly  charged  him 
with  defrauding  his  father,  if  not  guilty  of  a  still 
worse  crime  against  the  old  man.  The  quarrel  was 
a  bitter  one,  the  manner  and  language  of  Skillott 
going  far  to  convince  Walter  that  there  were  good 
grounds  for  his  suspicions.  Late  on  the  evening  after 


424  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

the  meeting  of  Brayton  and  Skillott,  the  latter  was 
closeted  with  Hermon  at  the  Home,  in  low  and  earn- 
est conversation.  The  unscrupulous  Judge  was  not 
yet  safe  from  those  whom  he  had  wronged.  Guilt 
must  be  shielded  with  guilt. 

On  the  evening  in  question,  a  drover  had  put  up  at 
the  Home,  the  other  hotels  being  full  during  the 
County  Fair.  The  man  had  passed  down  to  New- 
York  a  few  weeks  before,  with  a  very  large  drove  of 
cattle,  and  was  now  on  his  return.  In  the  course  of 
the  evening  he  drank  freely,  and  insisted  on  treating 
frequently  the  numerous  company  around  him.  As 
he  became  intoxicated  he  was  communicative,  and 
disposed  to  boast  of  his  means,  and  display  the  large 
amounts  of  money  he  had  with  him.  Lane,  who  was 
now  in  partnership  with  Hermon,  was  one  of  the  most 
forward  in  urging  the  old  man  to  drink.  Towards 
midnight  the  drover  was  carried  to  the  back  chamber 
and  put  in  bed.  Soon  after,  the  lights  in  the  Home 
were  all  extinguished,  and  the  house  closed  for  the 
night. 

On  this  day  Minnie  Hermon  had  found  new  ingre- 
dients mingled  in  her  bitter  cup.  From  some  cause 
or  other,  Hermon  had  been  induced  to  be  the  bearer 
of  a  base  proposition  to  his  own  daughter,  from  Skil- 
lott. Minnie  looked  into  the  drunkard's  face  with 
astonishment  too  deep  for  utterance.  She  could 
hardly  believe  that  she  heard  aright  as  she  stood  with 
her  lips  apart  and  colorless  as  marble.  As  the  full 
import  of  her  father's  words  slowly  came  to  her  un- 


A   GROUPING   OF   SCENES.  425 

derstaudiug,  the  blood  came  quick  and  hot  to  her 
cheek,  and  her  languid  eye  kindled  with  fire. 

"  And  this  language  from  my  father  !  "  she  passion- 
ately exclaimed.  "  Great  God  !  has  it  come  to  this  ! 
John  Ilermon,  are  you  so  imbruted  with  rum  as  to 
breathe  such  baseness  to  an  only  child?  Is  it  true? 
Or  is  it  a  horrible  dream  ?  Tell  me  it  is  false,  Father. 
I  can  die  for  you,  for  I  promised  my  mother  to  cling 
to  yon  ;  but  this  is  horrible.  Unsay  the  cruel  words 
or  you  will  kill  me." 

Ilermon  answered  with  a  brutal  laugh,  telling  her 
that  she  might  as  well  be  the  mistress  of  a  judge  as 
of  a  long-coated  hypocrite. 

"  John  Ilermon,"  she  gasped,  with  vehemence. 
"  were  I  man  and  you  less  than  a  father,  I  would  re 
sent  such  language  as  this.  God  knows  I  am  not  de 
serving  of  such  treatment  from  you." 

"  Why,  Min.,  the  Judge  loves  you." 

"  It's  a  lie,  father !  He  has  already  insulted  me  in 
our  own  house." 

"  Come,  now,  don't  be  (hie)  silly  ;  the  fact  is,  we 
are  under  some  obligations  —  ahem  —  to  the  Judge." 

"  No  obligations  on  earth  should  induce  a  father  to 
harbor  one  moment  such  thoughts  as  you  have  uttered 
to  me."  y 

"I  —  I  —  (hie)  1  don't  like  to  offend  him,  you 
know,  and — " 

"Cra/ven  !  and  you  would  listen  to  him  rather  than 
to  offend  him,  and  then  stoop  to  retail  his  baseness. 
John  Ilermon  would  not  have  so  stooped  once !  " 


4:26  MINNIE    HEEMON. 

"  Take  care,  Miss ;  you  don't  know  it  all.  You 
may  be  sorry  if  you  treat  (hie)  the  Judge  disrespect- 
fully. I  —  the  fact  is  —  I  owe  him." 

"And  you  would  sell  me  to  a  human  monster  !  Fa- 
ther, I  have  borne  with  disgrace,  and  the  desertion  of 
friends  —  with  violence  at  your  hands.  I  can  bear 
Btill,  but  never  a  word  more  of  what  you  have  now 
whispered  —  and  do  you  hear  ?  —  I  will  not.  I  will 
die,  and  be  at  rest  with  my  sainted  mother." 

"  There  'tis  —  sainted  mother,  again.  I've  told  you 

enough,  you  hussy,  to  stop  such  d d  nonsense. 

Take  that  for  your  impudence  ;  I  am  not  so  drunk  as 
not  to  rule  in  my  own  house,"  and  he  glared  upon, 
the  girl  as  she  reeled  under  his  'heavy  blow.  "  And 
Bee  here,  Miss,  none  of  your  sauce  to  Skillott,"  he 
concluded,  as  he  turned  away. 

How  the  blow  burned  on  the  wasted  cheek !  Oth- 
ers had  preceded  it,  hurting  the  swollen  heart  more 
than  the  flesh.  In  her  room,  Minnie  wept  herself 
into  calm  despair,  and  prayed  for  death.  "  Oh,  my 
mother,"  she  exclaimed,  "  why  did  you  bind  me  to  a 
fate  like  this  ? " 

Minnie  could  think  of  no  one  to  whom  she  could 
tell  her  troubles,  or  look  for  protection,  and  she  feared 
the  time  migjrt  come  when  she  would  need  the  strong 
arm  of  a  friend.  She  thought  of  one  who  was  now  a 
stranger,  but  her  true  woman's  heart  rejoiced  at  the 
news  of  his  reformation.  Halton  was  her  friend  — 
she  would  call  on  him,  for  if  the  worst  came,  she  must 
have  some  place  to  flee.  Even  as  she  that  night 


A   GROUPING   OF   SCENES.  427 

passed  up  the  stairs,  Lane  had  placed  himself  before 
her  room  door  with  an  insulting  leer.  Where  was 
the  Hermit  all  this  time,  she  wondered,  as  she  threw 
on  her  hood,  determined  to  visit  Halton's  even  at  that 
late  hour  —  a  presentiment  of  coming  ill  preventing 
her  from  seeking  slumber. 

As  she  stood  at  the  head  of  the  stairs,  listening  to 
learn  if  there  were  any  persons  up  in  the  house,  she 
was  startled  by  the  careful  opening  01  the  bar-room 
door,  and  the  stealthy  steps  of  two  individuals  upon 
the  bottom  steps.  Fearing  that  she  could  not  reach 
her  own  room  in  time,  she  stepped  through  the  door- 
way into  the  back  chamber,  not  knowing  that  there 
was  any  one  within.  Her  fears  were  increased  as 
those  whom  she  had  heard  followed  her  through  the 
doorway  into  the  room.  There  was  a  dark  closet 
made  of  rough  boards,  between  the  wall  and  the 
chimney,  with  a  narrow  door  hung  upon  leathers. 
Minnie  entered  this,  awaiting  the  departure  of  the 
intruders,  or  an  opportunity  of  stealing  out  unheard- 
She  could  plainly  hear  the  whispering  of  two  persons, 
and  immediately  she  noticed  a  beam  of  light  in  the 
closet.  As  it  entered  through  a  knot  hole  in  the  rude 
partition  just  below  the  latch,  she  could,  by  stooping, 
observe  all  that  occurred  in  the  room.  She  was  sur- 
prised to  see  some  one  on  the  bed  asleep,  and  before 
it  her  father  and  Lane,  a  candle,  pail,  and  a  blanket 
which  they  proceeded  to  hang  before  the  window,  af- 
ter Lane  had  carefully  turned  the  key  in  the  door. 
The  latter  act  precluded  all  possibility  of  her  present 


428  MINNIE   HEEMON. 

escape  from  her  unpleasant  position.  The  two  held 
a  brief  consultation  in  low  whispers,  but  they  were 
so  near  her  place  of  concealment  that  she  heard  all 
that  was  said. 

"  You  are  sure  he  wont  wake  ?  "  asked  Hermon. 

"  Sure,  I  tell  you,"  replied  Lane,  "  for  the  doso 
was  a  big  one." 

Minnie  shuddered  as  the  words  assumed  a  signifi- 
cant meaning,  but  more  as  she  saw  them  pull  off 
their  coats  and  roll  their  shirt  sleeves  above  the  el- 
bows, Lane  having  a  large,  broad-bladed  knife  in  his 
hand.  The  candle  slightly  trembled  in  her  father's 
hand,  and  even  Lane's  face,  desperado  as  he  was,  was 
paler  than  she  had  ever  seen  it  before.  She  dreaded 
some  fearful  scene,  and  yet  certainly  her  father  —  ah  1 
she  had  it ;  the  man  was  sick  and  must  be  bled.  But 
then  again,  such  a  blade,  and  not  either  her  father 
or  Lane  were  doctors.  She  now  for  the  first  time  no- 
ticed that  the  pail  contained  water,  and  that,  setting 
towards  the  door,  was  a  large  tub. 

The  two  whispered  again,  looked  towards  the  bed, 
then  at  each  other,  when  Lane  made  a  gesture  of  read- 
iness with  his  knife.  Minnie's  heart  ceased  to  beat, 
as  she  saw  her  father  carefully  lift  the  sleeping  man's 
shoulders  and  draw  him  over  the  edge  of  the  bed,  and 
then,  after  untying  his  cravat  and  unbuttoning  his 
shirt  collar,  bend  the  head  back  over  $te  tub,  which 
had  been  placed  under  him.  He'  then  turned  his 
own  head  away,  and  stood  as  far  off  as  he  could.  She 
saw  a  movement  by  Lane,  a  glance  of  steel,  and 


A   GROUPING   OF   SCENES.  429 

heard,  as  her  head  swam  in  darkness,  a  gurgling,  cho- 
king sound  from  the  bed.  With  one  wild,  piercing 
shriek,  she  sank  upon  the  floor,  insensible. 

The  next  morning  it  was  rumored  that  the  drover 
had  been  murdered  in  the  streets.  A  score  of  differ- 
ent stories  were  flying  about,  but  all  fixing  upon  Wal- 
ter Brayton  as  the  murderer.  As  the  latter  came 
from  his  boarding  place  to  his  office,  he  was  aston- 
ished to  find  it  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  nearly  one 
thousand  people,  all  in  a  high  state  of  excitement,  and 
attracted  by  some  object  in  the  oflice.  So  eager  were 
all  to  catch  a  view  of  the  point  of  interest,  that  he 
had  not  been  noticed  as  he  had  wedged  through  the 
crowd,  and  now  stood  at  his  office  door.  Skillott  first 
.saw  him. 

"  There  he  comes,"  shouted  Jud  Lane,  as  he,  too, 
caught  sight  of  Walter ;  "  let's  hang  him." 

"Hang  him  !  "  was  caught  up  by  the  crowd  and 
went  fiercely  round,  while  the  mass  swayed  as  if  one 
common  pulse  throbbed  throughout.  Angry  brows 
were  bent  darkly  upon  the  bewildered  man,  and  om-' 
inous  words  were  whispered  by  more  than  one  sober 
citizen.  His  very  appearance  was  looked  upon  as  a 
bold  piece  of  acting  to  give  the  impression  of  inno- 
cence. 

"  What  —  what  does  this  mean  ? "  finally  asked 
Brayton,  looking  about  him  with  astonishment. 

"  It  means  that  you  are  a  black-hearted  villain  and 
a  murderer  •  tJiafs  what  it  means,"  said  Jud  Lane, 


430  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

thrusting  his  clenched  fist  into  Brayton's  face.  With 
a  quick,  strong  sweep  of  his  powerful  arm,  the  latter 
struck  the  landlord  to  the  ground. 

"  Hang  him  up  !  Away  with  him  !  Hang  him 
np  !  "  was  literally  howled  forth,  as  the  act  was  wit- 
nessed. 

"  For  what  ?  "Why  this  crowd  ?  And  why  such  lan- 
guage to  me  ?  "  demanded  Brayton,  as  the  lion. in  him 
began  to  stir,  and  he  raised  himself  to  his  full  height. 

"  You'll  find  out  soon  enough,"  was  the  reply  from 
several  quarters. 

At  this  juncture,  Judge  Skillott  took  off"  his  hat,  the 
crowd  becoming  orderly  as  they  noticed  his  wish  to 
speak. 

"  Fellow-citizens,  one  whom  we  well  know,  Mr. 
Brayton,  is  charged  with  a  revolting  crime.  Last 
night  Mr.  Nye,  the  drover,  was  murdered  by  some 
one.  The  body,  with  the  throat  cut  from  ear  to  ear,  has 
been  found  hidden  in  Mr.  Brayton's  office,  together 
with  the  watch  and  pocket-book  of  the  deceased. 
Suspicion  has  fallen  strongly  upon  Mr.  Brayton  as  the 
one  who  perpetrated  the  crime.  It  is  to  be  hoped  by 
all  his  friends  that  he  will  be  able  to  clear  himself  of 
.the  charge.  In  the  mean  time,  as"  friends  of  good 
order  and  law,  I  feel  constrained  to  urge  you  all  to  go 
into  no  violent  measures,  assuring  you  that  the  ma- 
jesty of  the  law  will  be  vindicated,  and  the  guilty 
brought  to  punishment.  One  unlawful  act  does  not 
justify  another." 

Walter,  with  that  keenness  of  intellect  character- 


A   GROUPING   OF-  SCENES.  431 

istic  of  himself,  at  once  comprehended  the  fiend-like 
cunning  of  the  plot  to  ruin  him,  and  his  lip  quivered 
as  the  officers  came  forward  and  placed  the  fetters 
upon  his  hands,,  and  he  passed  .through  the  frowning 
crowd  to  the  jail. 

The  time  of  Doctor  Howard's  trial  at  last  came 
round,  and  found  him  as  unprepared  as  at  first.  He 
had  left  no  effort  unmade  ftfr  the  discovery  of  the 
whereabouts  of  the  Hermit ;  but  no  clue  had  been 
found  as  the  result  of  his  inquiries. 

Unfortunately  for  his  case,  a  fresh  outrage  had  been 
perpetrated  in  the  burial  ground  of  Oakyale,  and  the 
popular  mind  was  at  once  inflamed  by  anVexcitement 
more  intense  than  at  first.  The  grave  of  Colonel  Wes- 
ton  had  been  robbed  on  the  night  folio  wing  his  burial, 
and  under  most  aggravated  circumstances  —  the  coffin 
being  left  on  the  ground  and  the  grave  open.  A  wag- 
on was  tracked  from  the  entering  gate  to  Howard's 
office  ;  but  no  trace  of  the  body  could  be  found  about 
the  premises.  So  infuriated  were  the  people  at  this 
bold  perpetration  of  body  robbery,  that  they  tore 
Howard's  office  to  the  ground,  and  had  commenced 
OH  his  house,  when  Judge  Skillott  interfered  with  a 
posse  of  police  and  put  a  stop  to  the  riot.  Howard 
felt  that  this  affair  sealed  his  doom,  and  awaited  the 
day  of  trial  with  the  calmness  of  despair. 

The  trial  was  brief,  for  Howard  had  no  testimony 
to  offer  against  that  brought  forward  by  the  prosecu- 
tion, and  the  case  went  to  the  jury  after  a  few  remarks 
18 


432  MINNIE   HEBMON. 

by  the  gentlemanly  prosecuting  attorney  ;  Howard 
doggedly  preserving  sullen  silence  through  the  whole 
trial.  The  jury,  after  retiring  a  short  half-hour,  re- 
turned with  a  verdict  of  guilty.  Howard's  face  was 
bloodless,  and  but  for  a  shriek  which  broke  the  op 
pressive  silence  in  the  court-room,  not  a  breath  was 
heard  as  the  verdict  was  pronounced  by  the  foreman. 
Howard  recognized  the  voice,  which  rang  like  a  des- 
pairing wail  in  the  hushed  room,  and  the  blood  rushed 
like  a  flame  upon  his  cheek  and  brow,  he  biting  his 
lip  through  with  a  convulsive  start.  'Twas  then  that 
he  stood  up  and  asked  permission  to  say  a  few  words. 
The  Judge  was  sure  of  him,  now  that  the  verdict  waa 
declared,  and  very  blandly  granted  the  request, 
Howard  remarked  in  substance  : 

"  Friends  —  no  —  I  will  not  say  that  after  the  treat 
ment  I  have  received  in  this  community  —  I  am 
aware  that  my  fate  is  fixed,  and  I  am  to  be  branded 
as  a  felon,  and  incarcerated  in  prison  among  felons 
But  for  one  whose  heart  has  well-nigh  given  way  un 
der  the  blow,  I  should  not  have  opened  my  mouth  on 
this  occasion.  Before  God  and  you,  my  fellow-citizens 
and  neighbors,  I  am  as  innocent  of  this  crime  which 
is  charged  upon  me  as  the  most  innocent  among  you. 
I  find  myself  bound  and  powerless  in  the  toils  of  as 
base  a  plot  as  ever  ruined  an  innocent  man.  My 
name  has  been  covered  with  infamy,  my  wife  treated 
with  neglect  and  scorn,  and  my  property  laid  waste 
by  an  infuriated  mob.  And,  as  if  to  make  the  blow 
still  more  crushing,  another  crime,  still  more  aggra- 


A    GROUPING   OF   SCENES.  4:33 

vated  than  the  first,  has  been  charged  against  me, 
and  traced  to  my  door. 

"  I  did  not  rob  Geraid  Brayton's  grave.  I  have  sat- 
isfactory evidence  that  he  was  poisoned  in  one  of  the 
taverns  of  this  village.  He  was  hurried  to  the  grave 
on  purpose  to  conceal  the  fact  of  his  being  poisoned, 
but  becoming  alarmed,  the  murderers  [fixing  his  eye 
boldly  upon  the  Judge]  dug  up  the  body.  They  were 
caught  in  the  act,  and  frightened  from  their  prey. 
Myself  and  another  individual  saw  it  all ;  and  after 
they  fled  from  the  body,  it  was  taken  to  my  premises, 
(where  it  was  found  by  your  committee,)  and  the  stom- 
ach taken  out  and  the  contents  subjected  to  a  chem- 
ical analysis.  Your  committee  failed  in  finding  the 
stomach  ;  and  not  until  the  real  perpetrators  of  this 
double  crime  are  before  you  on  trial,  will  the  proof  it 
furnishes  of  a  violent  death  be  brought  to  light. 
There  was  one  who  knows  more  of  this  matter  than  I 
do,  and  to  whom  I  have  looked  for  a  solution  of  all 
this  difficulty.  His  absence  is  unaccountable  to  me. 

"But  I  will  not  detain  you.  I  see  by  your  counte- 
nances that  my  words  find  no  lodgment  in  your  minds. 
So  be  it.  I  go  to  prison  ;  but  surely,  a  just  God,  who 
knows  my  innocence,  will  yet  bring  the  guilty  to 
punishment.  Those  who  stole  the  body  of  Gerald 
Brayton  are  now  in  this  court-room,  but  not  under 
sentence.  The  main  actor,  and  I  believe,  one  who 
first  poisoned  and  then  planned  the  robbery  of  the 
body,  is  now  on  the  bench,  and  is  to  sentence  one 
who  is  innocent,  for  the  crime  he  committed  !  " 


4:34:  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

There  was  intense  excitement  in  the  audience  as 
Howard  uttered  these  words,  with  his  eye  turned  full 
and  steadily  upon  Judge  Skillott.  Save  a  slight  pallor 
around  the  mouth,  the  countenance  of  that  personage 
wore  a  pitying  sneer,  plainly  saying  he  forgave  the 
prisoner  this  malignant  attempt  to  avert  odium  from 
himself  by  making  a  charge  against  the  bench. 

The  audience  hushed  as  Skillott  slowly  arose  to  sen 
tence  j;h,e  prisoner.  The  remarks  of  the  Judge  were 
cunniqj^ly  made  up  of  pity  and  forgiveness  for  one 
who  blamed  so  unjustly.  It  had  been  a  sad  and  un- 
pleasant duty  to  try  one  of  his  own  friends  and  neigh- 
bors, and  it  only  remained  for  him  to  meet  the  most 
painful  duty  of  all,  in  sentencing  the  prisoner  to  the 
state  prison  for  the  term  of  five  years  and  six  months. 

Mrs.  Howard  was  taken  from  the  court-room  to  her 
desolate  home,  moaning  and  weeping  with  delirium, 
calling  plaintively  upon  her  husband's  name,  and  im- 
ploring help  to  save  him.  There  was  a  quick,  impul- 
sive reaction  in  many  a  mind,  as  people  looked  upon 
her  situation,  and  in  their  sympathies  for  her  they 
forgot  the  harsh  words  they  had  spoken  of  the  Doctor. 

As  Mrs.  Howard  could  not  visit  the  jail,  Howard 
was  taken  to  his  dwelling  to  see  her.  It  was  a  scene 
which,  were  we  able,  we  could  wish  to  describe.  The 
moaning  maniac  appeared  to  recognize  the  voice,  and 
welcomed  him  with  smiles  and  tears.  She  would  lis- 
ten as  Howard  stooped  where  she  knelt,  and  between 
each  lingering  kiss  upon  her  hot  brow  whispered 
u  poor  Mary." 


A    GROUPING    OF    SCENES.  435 

Aye,  poor  Mary!  The  husband  and  wife  were 
gently  parted  ;  and  he,  with  a  look  of  agony  such  as 
can  never  be  described,  stood  upon  the  threshold  and 
looked  upon  the  silent  room,  wept  his  choking  "God 
bless  you !  "  upon  the  sunny  locks  of  his  child,  and 
reeled  away.  There  were  no  rude  sounds  as  the  pris- 
oner passed  through  the  streets  to  the  prison,  that  in- 
stitution having  just  been  completed  in  Oakvale. 
Howard  turned  at  the  corner  and  looked  towards  his 
home  again. 

—  The  heavy  mass  of  iron  crashed  back  to  its  place, 
falling  coldly  into  the  heart,  and  the  prisoner  was  en- 
tombed. Then  only  was  it  that  people  remembered 
the  goodness  of  the  ever-frank  and  manly  physician. 
And  as  fresh  outrages  occurred  in  the  burial  ground, 
more  than  one  who  had  followed  Howard  so  bitterly 
began  to  question  whether  a  great  wrong  had  not 
been  done  to  an  innocent  man. 

As  the  talk  about  the  trial  and  conviction  of  How- 
ard died  away,  the  approaching  trial  of  Walter  Bray- 
ton  assumed  its  place  in  the  public  mind. 

Calm,  pale,  and  with  a  manly  port  worthy  of  Wal- 
ter in  his  best  days,  he  sat  in  the  prisoner's  box.  His 
flesh  had  wasted,  and  his  color  had  faded  during  his 
confinement,  but  his  eye  was  full,  and  boldly  searched 
the  countenances  of  those  around  him.  The  room 
was  densely  crowded,  for  the  Attorney-General  had 
been  engaged  for  the  prosecution  ;  and  as  it  became 
known  that  Walter  would  defend  himself  in  person, 


436  MINNIE  HERMON. 

the  people  counted  on  a  trial  of  great  interest.  To 
the  usual  question,  he  firmly  answered  "  Not  guilty," 
and  looked  every  one  of  the  jurors  steadily  in  the  eye 
as  they  came  before  him. 

.  The  trial  proceeded.  The  proof  was  all  circum- 
stantial, yet  bearing  hard  against  the  prisoner.  Jud 
Lane  swore  directly  to  having  seen  Brayton  with  Nye 
late  in  the  evening  of  the  murder,  in  the  vicinity  of 
Brayton's  office.  Brayton  subjected  the  fellow  to  a 
searching  cross-examination  ;  but  his  story  was  brief 
and  doggedly  repeated  every  time.  It  was  shown  in 
proof  that  the  body  of  the  drover  was  found  concealed 
in  the  prisoner's  office,  with  the  throat  cut,  and  a  wal- 
let known  to  be  the  drover's  in  his  (Brayton's)  over- 
coat pocket.  There  were  marks  of  a  scuffle,  and  of 
blood  upon  the  floor.  Another  witness  testified  that 
he  had  heard  the  deceased  asking  legal  advice  of  the 
prisoner,  about  certain  difficulties  with  a  farmer  of 
whom  he  had  purchased  cattle.  The  pocket-book  of 
the  deceased  too,  was  found  in  the  office. 

Brayton  offered  but  one  witness  —  Halton  —  who 
testified  that  the  prisoner  was  with  him  from  before 
dark  until  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  engaged  on 
business  of  the  Division,  and  when  that  was  finished, 
he  retired  to  bed  as  usual,  the  prisoner  boarding  at 
his  house 

The  arguments  were  brief,  though  unusually  elo- 
quent and  able.  Walter's  defence  was  worthy  of  his 
fame  as  an  advocate  and  an  orator.  He  commented 
upon  the  evidence,  accounting  for  the  circumstances 


A   GROUPING    OF  SCENES.  437 

upon  no  other  ground  than  as  a  worse  than  devilish 
conspiracy  to  blacken  the  name  and  take  the  life  of 
an  innocent  man. 

"As  God  is  my  judge,  gentlemen,  I  am  as  ignorant 
as  yourselves  of  the  manner  in  which  the  body  of  the 
deceased  came  in  my  office.  It  is  true  I  was  retained 
by  Mr.  Nye  as  counsel  in  a  suit,  but  farther  than 
that,  I  never  passed  a  word  with  him.  I  was  not 
in  his  company  on  the  night  oi  his  death,  nor  in 
the  neighborhood  of  my  office.  It  does  not  look  rea- 
sonable that  I  should  commit  so  horrible  a  crime  in 
my  own  office,  and  leave  the  records  to  be  found 
against  me. 

"  But  I  will  not  detain  you,  gentlemen,  though  life 
is  sweet,  and  an  innocent  man  might  be  indulged  in 
addressing  those  in  whose  hands  his  fate  is  placed.  I 
have  been  guilty  of  much  ;  but  there  is  no  stain  of 
blood  upon  this  hand.  It  would  be  sweet  to  live  and 
redeem  the  errors  of  the  past,  but  there  are  few  to  re- 
gret me.  I  have  no  kindred  on  earth,  and  should  you 
condemn  me,  gentlemen,  I  can  meet  God  with  a  con- 
science clear  of  this  crime  charged  against  me.  What- 
ever your  verdict  may  be,  I  know  not ;  but  if  against 
me,  I  shall  meet  my  fate  with  a  lighter  heart  than  will 
those  who  have  conspired  to  rob  me  of  the  only  boon 
left  me  of  a  bitter  wreck.  In  behalf  of  such  as  may 
believe  me  unjustly  charged,  I  again,  before  this  im- 
mense audience  and  my  God,  most  solemnly  affirm 
my  innocence  of  the  crime  for  which  I  am  on  trial. 
A.n  ignominious  death  may  be  mine,  for  it  were  vain 


4:38  MINNIE    HERMON. 

to  deny  that  the  evidence  is  strongly  against  me  ;  but 
the  right  will  ultimately  triumph,  and  the  dread  stig- 
ma be  removed  from  the  name  of  Walter  Brayton." 

The  next  morning,  after  the  cause  went  to  the  jury, 
the  prisoner  was  brought  into  court  arid  the  verdict 
declared.  It  is  ever  painful  to  await  the  voice  of  a 
foreman  when  the  life  of  a  fellow-being  hangs  upon 
his  words.  The  stillness  which  falls  upon  the  multi- 
tude is  painful. 

"  Guilty,  but  recommended  to  mercy,"  was  the 
slow  answer  of  the  foreman.  There  was  a  low  rush 
of  voices,  and  again  the  stillness.  To  the  usual  inter- 
rogatory, Brayton  replied  that  he  had  nothing  to  say. 
When  called  upon  by  the  Judge,  he  stood  up  almost 
proudly,  and  listened  to  the  sentence.  Skillott  affect- 
ed great  feeling  in  pronouncing  the  sentence,  but 
shunned  the  calm  and  piercing  eye  of  the  prisoner. 
Walter  was  sentenced  to  be  hung  by  the  neck  until 
he  was  dead. 

The  bearing  of  the  prisoner  had  been  so  noble  — 
so  modest,  yet  bold  and  manly  —  that  many  who  be- 
lieved him  guilty,  could  not  but  admire  the  man,  and 
pity  his  fate.  The  people  dispersed  and  went  thought- 
fully to  their  homes. 

Not  until  in  his  cell  and  alone,  did  Walter  begin 
to  realize  the  result  of  his  trial.  'Twas  there  that  the 
bright  dreams  he  had  woven  since  his  reform  carne 
back  to  mock  him.  He  did  not  give  way  to  grief, 
but  his  spirit  chafed  against  his  prison  bars,  and  strove 
to  grapple  with  the  unseen  hand  which  had  wrought 


A    GROUPING    OF    SCENES.  439 

such  wrong.  He  was  bound  in  the  dark,  and  now  lay 
helpless,  sentenced  to  an  ignominious  death,  and  with- 
out friends  to  save  him  from  the  fate.  Gaston,  the 
jailer,  was  kind,  and  Ilalton  and  his  companions  de- 
serted him  not ;  but  those  with  whom  ho  had  associa- 
ted m  party  conflicts  left  him  alone.  Elder  Snyder 
called  upon  him  once,  and  coldly  talked  to  him  as  to  a 
guilty  murderer,  and  urged  him  to  confess  his  crime 
as  the  only  atonement  he  could  make.  Walter  indig- 
nantly repelled  his  advice,  and  gave  him  to  under- 
stand that  he  should  not  damn  his  soul  with  a  lie.  The 
elder  drew  a  long  sigh,  and  then  turned  haughtily 
away. 

About  this  time  an  itinerating  Methodist  revivalist 
came  to  Oakvale  and  commenced  a  series  of  meet- 
ings, which  rapidly  kindled  a  high  state  of  religious 
feeling  throughout  the  community.  Crowds  flocked 
to  hear  the  new  comer  —  the  rich  and  the  abandoned 
weeping  over  the  deep  and  melting  pathos  of  his  ap- 
peals. His  style  was  not  the  denunciatory,  save  when 
assailing  wrong  ;  but  to  men,  he  plead  as  a  brother 
would  plead.  He  visited  the  sick  and  comforted  the 
afflicted,  wept  with  those  who  wept,  was  mild  and 
winning  to  the  young,  and  for  the  erring  he  ever  had 
a  kind  and  forgiving  word.  His  manner  was  humble 
and  subdued,  though  at  times  he  would  rouse  like  a 
storm,  his  eyes  flashing  like  the  lightning  under  his 
cloudy  brow.  His  appearance  and  manner  were  pa- 
triarchal ;  his  white  locks  and  beard  flowing  uncut, 
his  neat  but  plain  apparel,  his  eye  of  mingled  sadness 


440  MINNIE    HERMON. 

and  smiles,  his  voice  of  singular  sweetness  and  power5 
and  his  easy  gestures,  combined  to  render  the  man 
irresistible  as  a  preacher.  His  sermons  were  not  all 
made  up  of  the  terrible  imagery  of  infernal  torment ; 
but  of  love  and  hope,  and  eternal  bliss  in  a  better 
land  —  of  a  Saviour  weeping  over  Jerusalem,  and 
over  the  grave  of  Lazarus  —  of  his  meekness  and 
deeds  of  mercy  to  the  poor,  the  needy  and  the  afflict- 
ed, —  of  his  struggles  in  the  garden  —  of  his  bloody 
death  and  prayer  of  forgiveness  for  his  enemies  — all 
these  features  in  the  Redeemer's  character,  were  pre- 
sented in  a  spirit  which  found  a  lodgment  in  the  sto- 
niest heart.  His  prayers  burned  with  the  same  in- 
spired eloquence,  and  as  he  bowed  his  venerable  form 
to  the  floor,  and  lifted  it  again,  with  his  cheeks  wet 
with  tears,  it  seemed  as  if  his  great  heart  throbbed 
under  the  very  throne  of  his  Master  in  Heaven.  iN"one 
knew  the  man,  or  whence  he  came. 

The  revivalist  had  not  been  in  Oak  vale  a  day  before 
he  learned  the  history  of  the  last  few  years,  and  it 
was  whispered  that  he  had  been  seen  wandering  in 
the  old  church-yard  on  the  clear  moonlight  evenings. 
On  the  night  of  his  arrival  he  visited  the  jail  where 
Brayton  was  confined,  and  was  promptly  admitted  to 
see  the  prisoner. 

The  sun  had  set,  but  the  crimson  glow  in  the  west 
was  reflected  in  the  cell  where  Walter  sat,  watching 
through  the  high-grated  window  the  receding  day- 
light. The  prisoner  turned  as  the  door  creaked  on  its 
hinges,  and  tho  revivalist  stood  before  him. 


A    GROUPING    OF   SCENES.  Ml 

"Have  Ithe  happiness  of  seeing  Walter  Bray  ton?'' 
he  asked,  in  a  tone  of  great  sweetness. 

"  Who  is  it  that  is  happy  to  see  that  individual  in 
a  dungeon  and  in  chains,  may  I  ask  ?  "  said  Walter, 
with  bitterness. 

"A  friend.  Glad  to  see  him,  but  not  to  find  'him 
thus,"  replied  the  revivalist  with  sadness,  as  he  ad- 
vanced and  took  the  prisoner's  hand  firmly  in  hia 
own.  There  was  a  magnetism  in  the  grasp  and  in  the 
watery  eye  which  met  his  own,  and  the  prisoner  felt 
that  the  stranger  was  a  friend. 

"  I  am  a  poor,  humble  Methodist  preacher,  just  in 
the  place,  and  hastened  to  visit  those  in  prison.  I 
hope  I  am  not  unwelcome  ?  " 

Walter  did  not  resist  the  influence  of  the  man's 
tone  and  manner,  for  he  felt  drawn  towards  him,  and 
conversed  with  him  as  he  never  had  conversed  with 
but  one  before.  Ere  he  was  aware,  he  had  fully  and 
frankly  rehearsed  the  history  of  the  last  few  years  — 
his  attachment  to  Minnie  Herinon  and  their  rupture ; 
his  trial  and  the  result. 

"And  you  are  innocent?" 

"As  the  angels  in  Heaven,  of  the  crime  for  which 
I  am  condemned." 

"  I  believe  you  ;  and  if  I  can  do  anything  to  unravel 
this  dark  plot,  rest  assured  it  shall  be  done.  But  of 
one  thing  let  me  assure  you  :  you  wrong  Minnie  Her 
naon.  I  have  had  occasion  to  know  something  of  that 
woman,  and  a  truer,  nobler  creature  never  honored 


442  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

her  sex.  You  will  find  plotting  there,  as  well  as  in 
other  matters." 

A  new  light  broke  upon  Walter's  mind,  und  his 
spirit  was  lighter  for  a  long  time  after  the  revivalist 
had  left  the  prisoner. 

An  hour  passed  away,  and  the  cell  door  again 
swung  back  upon  its  hinges,  the  lamp  in  the  jailer's 
hand  revealing  a  female  figure  deeply  muffled.  There 
was  a  hesitancy  in  her  movements,  but  as  Gaston  put 
the  lamp  upon  the  rude  table,  she  advanced  to  where 
the  prisoner  yet  sat,  and  stood  before  him.  He  no- 
ticed that  she  trembled,  her  features  yet  carefully 
concealed  from  him.  Slowly  turning  towards  the 
door,  as  if  to  satisfy  herself  that  the  jailer  had  de- 
parted, she  lifted  the  hood  and  vail  from  her  head 
and  face,  and  dropped  on  her  knees  before  the  pris- 
oner. 

"  Minnie  Hermon  !  " 

"  Walter  Brayton  1 " 

"And  you  do  not  believe  me  guilty  of  this  dark 
crime,  Minnie,  and  forgive  me  that  I  have  so  deeply 
injured  you? " 

"  I  know  you  are  not  guilty.  If  you  were,  I  could 
forgive  you  a  thousand  times  !  " 

"  But  may  I  ask  why  that  emphasis  on  the  word 
1  know  '  ?  " 

"  Oh,  God !  how  horrible !  —  and  the  oath  —  the 
oath!"  and  she  shuddered,  and  covered  her  face. 


A    GROUPING    OF    SCENES.  443 

"  What  do  you  mean  —  what  oath  ?  I  cannot  un- 
derstand you." 

"  Do  you  believe,"  she  asked,  looking  wildly  around 
and  not  heeding  his  questions,  "  that  we  are  bound 
to  keep  an  oath  when  extorted  by  —  by  violence  — 
by  a  knife  at  the  " 

"  Mr.  Lane  wishes  to  ask  Mr.  Brayton  one  ques- 
tion," said  the  jailer,  as  he  came  to  the  cell  door. 
Minnie  sprang  to  her  feet  as  if  the  voice  had  been 
an  adder's  hiss,  and  rushed  to  the  door,  beseeching 
Gaston  in  frantic  whispers  to  let  her  go. 

"  That  Lane  must  not  see  me  here,  or  he  is  lost !  " 
exclaimed  she. 

Lane  made  some  trivial  inquiry  and  immediately 
.eft.  It  was  long  before  Walter  found  rest,  so  swiftly 
did  new  and  strange  thoughts  rush  across  his  mind, 

— That  oath  !    What  could  that  mean  ? 


CHAPTER   XXXIII. 

A    STAR   IN    THE   EAST THE   PLAGTJE    STAYED. 

"  LOST  !  forever  lost !  "  sighed  a  man  in  tattered 
garments,  and  his  face  bloated  with  rum,  as  he  pulled 
his  broken  hat  over  his  eyes  and  turned  sadly  away, 
and  passed  down  the  steps  of  the  Capitol. 

"God  forgive  them  !  but  there  is  no  hope  for  the 
widow  now !  "  ejaculated  an  emaciated  woman  in  tat- 
tered garb,  as  with  quivering  lip  she  drew  her  thread- 
bare blanket  closely  around  her  shoulders,  and  disap- 
peared in  the  crowd.  Her  only  child  was  in  jail  for 
drunkenness,  while  she  had  crept  in  to  witness  the 
scene  below.  The  last  hope  had  been  crushed  out 
from  her  heart,  as  she  heard,  clear  and  distinct  in  the 
stillness,  "  The  bill  is  lost !  " 

"  My  children  at  home !  "We  must  starve  and 
freeze  before  summer  comes  again,"  whispered  a  wife 
and  mother  in  accents  of  despair,  as  she  stood  gazing 
from  the  gallery,  her  thin  arms  folded,  and  a  heavy 
eye,  watery  with  tears  she  could  not  keep  back.  A 
pale,  delicate-looking  girl,  with  sharp,  pinched  fea- 
tures, dress  torn  at  the  bottom,  and  her  legs  bare 
and  red  from  the  cold,  stood  clinging  to  the  mother's 
dress  and  watching  the  scene  with  a  vacant  stare. 


A   STAR   IN    TBE   EAST.  445 

The  crowd  were  pouring  out  of  the  chamber  as  the 
wretched  looking  creature  aroused  from  her  reverie, 
and  dragged  the  child  away  by  the  hand.  None 
knew  how  dark  was  the  shadow  which  that  hour 
gloomed  in  the  pauper's  heart,  and  hung  over  the 
hearth  of  her  cellar,  home.  How  could  she  wrestle 
longer  with  the  plague  which  had  scourged  her  ? 

"  And  father  must  die  a  drunkard,  Mary,"  said  a 
boy  of  twelve  years,  he  and  his  sister  turning  and  go- 
ing out  arm  in  arm.  The  two  were  motherless;  and 
since  she  had  taken  their  hands  in  her  cold  palm  and 
commended  them  to  God,  they  had  not  known  a  kind 
word  at  home.  They  had  heard  that  drunkenness  was 
to  be  stopped  that  day,  and  had  mingled  with  the 
throng  and  found  a  place  in  the  Capitol.  God  pity 
the  legislator  who  that  day  said  "  Yes,"  to  the  busi- 
ness which  has  robbed  the  innocents  of  their  mother 
and  plunged  them  into  beggary. 

"  O  that  it  had  passed,"  came  in  an  almost  inaudi- 
ble whisper,  from  a  beautiful  young  female,  her  fair 
form  buried  in  costly  furs,  and  a  ring  of  great  bril- 
liancy glancing  upon  her  slender  finger.  Her  cheek 
was  fair,  but  there  was  a  canker  at  the  core,  and  there 
were  stains  from  the  heavy  lid  where  bitter  drops  had 
stood.  She  was  a  child  of  wealth  and  fashion,  and  a 
bride  ;  but  she  had  found  a  dark  stream  gliding  be- 
neath the  idol  of  her  heart.  The  belle  and  heiresa 
went  forth  with  a  heart  as  sad  as  the  saddest,  for  she 
too  had  entered  the  Capitol  to  see  the  plague  stayed, 

"  Would  that  my  boy  were  dead,  for  I  cannot  save 


446  MINNIB    HERMON 

him  now  !  "  said  a  wealthy  and  distinguished  citizen, 
with  tremulous  voice  and  compressed  lip,  looking 
down  upon  those  to  whom  he  had  looked  for  help, 
and  nervously  fingering  his  gold-headed  cane.  He 
spoke  of  an  only  son  who  had  plunged  deeply  into 
dissipation,  and  but  for  his  family  connection,  would 
have  been  sent  to  prison  for  forgery.  The  old  7nan 
had  wealth,  but  dared  not  look  into  the  future,  for 
he  feared  the  worst  to  his  reckless  and  drunken  boy. 

"  Traitors  —  cursed  traitors ! "  muttered  a  rumseller 
glaring  upon  those  who  had  belied  their  profession 
as  Christians,  and  their  duties  as  parents  and  citizens. 
The  man's  heart  had  not  been  all  calloused  in  a  bad 
business.  His  better  nature  revolted  at  the  traffic, 
and  he  had  eagerly  hoped  that  the  whole  system 
would  have  been  swept  from  the  land. 

"Well,  Mayor,  this  is  glorious,  ain't  it?  We're 

good  for  another  year,  G— — d  d n  'em  !  Let's 

go  over  to  Congress  Hall  and  take  something,"  ex- 
ultingly  exclaimed  a  dealer,  as  he  slapped  an  old 
distiller  familiarly  on  the  shoulder,  and  then  linking 
their  an-ms  together,  they  passed  out  and  turned  to  the 
left. 

"  Well,"  said  one  of  a  knot  of  men  standing  back 
of  the  desks,  "  we  are  beaten  here,  but  we  will  carry 
it  up  to  the  tribunal  of  the  people.  Many  of  these 
men  who  have  been  thus  recreant  to  humanity  and 
right,  will  come  not  again  to  the  Capitol.  Hereafter 
we  will  send  up  our  petitions  through  the  ballot  box." 

"  Aye,  aye,  that  we  will,"  was  the  response  from 


A    STAR   IN   THE   EAST.  447 

stern  men,  as  groups  lingered  about  and  discussed  the 
great  measure  which  had  been  watched  with  so  much 
interest  by  the  people  of  a  great  State. 

As  the  news  spread  from  the  Capitol,  there  went 
Badness  to  thousands  of  hearts.  Three  hundred  thou- 
sand men,  women  and  children,  had  petitioned  against 
the  plague,  but  to  see  their  appeal  answered  with  de- 
liberate insult.  The  popular  storm  had  swept  around 
the  Capitol.  The  heart  of  the  commonwealth  had 
beat  up  against  its  pillars.  Humanity,  crushed  and 
bleeding,  had  dragged  her  form  to  the  porch,  and 
plead  with  the  eloquence  of  ten  thousand  bruised 
and  bleeding  sufferers,  but  to  be  pierced -anew  by 
legislative  Iscariots,  amid  the  jeers  and  laughter  of 
the  emissaries  of  an  accursed  traffic. 

After  all  other  measures  had  failed,  a  new  one  had 
been  brought  out  by  the  hand  of  a  good  Providence, 
A  star  had  arisen  in  the  east.  A  sovereign  State  had 
flung  out  a  new  banner,  and  given  a  new  battle  cry 
to  the  retrograding  ryests  of  the  reform.  At  one  stroke 
the  traffic  had  been  annihilated  in  that  State.  The 
news  flashed  through  the  Union,  and  everywhere  kin- 
dled enthusiasm  and  hope.  The  heart  of  a  Christian 
people  throbbed  responsive  to  the  shout  from  Mame, 
and  to  the  peal  of  one  common  war-cry,  rallied  in 
solid  phalanx.  "  Pass  this  law,"  said  a  drunkard  in 
Oakvale,  "  and  I  may  be  saved.  Now  I  cannot  come 
to  mill  or  to  church  without  getting  drunk.  Give  ua 
this  law,  and  I  can  die  a  sober  man,  and,  I  hope,  go 
to  Heaven.  Without  it  I  am  lost.''  And  so  thou- 


448  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

sands  of  drunkards  turned  their  eyes  to  the  new  light 
in  the  east,  as  to  a  brazen  serpent  which  should  heal 
them.  Nothing  else  could.  Even  the  eloquent  Gault 
had  been  tempted  and  crushed  for  a  time,  while  thou- 
sands of  stars  of  lesser  ray  had  set  in  impenetrable 
gloom,  unnoticed.  The  measure  had  been  tried  in 
New- York,  and  had  failed  ;  and  the  storm  was  already 
gathering  in  blackness,  to  burst  again,  and  sweep  down 
upon  the  Capitol. 

Firm  for  God  and  the  right,  the  people  went  to  the 
ballot  boxes  throughout  the  land,  and  put  up  their  pe- 
titions. The  issue  was  there  tried,  and  the  right  tri- 
umphed !  Men  worked  for  their  families,  country  and 
the  right,  instead  of  party,  and  voted  for  legislators 
whom  they  could  petition  for  a  prohibitory  law  with- 
out a  blush.  The  recreancy  of  the  former  legislature 
had  vibrated  to  every  part  of  the  State,  and  had  been 
answered  by  a  stern  and  unmistakable  response. 

Dense  masses  were  darkening-the  streets  in  the  vi- 
cinity of  the  Capitol,  and  their  heavy  tread  was  music 
in  the  ears  of  the  despairing.  There  was  a  moral 
sublimity  in  this  gathering  of  the  people  as  they  came 
from  their  homes  and  business  avocations  to  witness 
the  result  of  their  November  strife.  The  white-haired 
eire  mingled  with  the  vigorous  middle-aged,  and  the 
enthusiastic  youth.  Women  and  neatly-dressed  chil- 
dren were  wending  their  way  up  the  hill.  Banners 
were  waving,  the  music  swelled  up  from  the  bands, 
and  a  voice  like  the  low  murmur  of  rnanv  waters 


A   STAR   IN   THE  EAST.  449 

came  up  from  the  masses.  A  long  procession,  made 
up  of  citizen  soldiers  in  the  great  moral  conflict,  and 
deserters  from  all  political  parties,  beat  the  ground 
to  the  music  of  the  bands.  One  vast,  throbbing  masa 
—  a  living  tide  of  American  citizens  and  freemen, 
calmly  but  sternly,  and  with  steady  steps,  filed  around 
the  corners,  and  swept  in  unbroken  column  through 
the  streets,  and  emerged  into  State  street  and  rolled 
up  towards  the  capitol  buildings,  one  common  purpose 
throbbing  to  the  music  from  end  to  end.  At  the  Capi- 
tol the  wave  swept  to  the  left,  swaying  onward  and 
onward  until  the  vast  architectural  pile  was  hedged 
with  steady  ranks,  and  the  head  of  the  column  dashed 
against  its  kindred  wave,  and  then  rolled  grandly  up 
the  Capitol  steps. 

The  scene  within  the  Capitol  was  one  for  a  lifetime. 
There  was  grandeur  there  ;  for  the  choice  spirits  of  a 
great  State  had  gathered  to  witness  the  deliberations 
of  their  servants,  and  to  present  their  petitions  in  per- 
son. A  vast  and  unbroken  sea  of  heads  appeared 
everywhere,  and  without  came  up  the  murmur  of  the 
voices  of  those  who  could  find  no  entrance.  Wealth 
and  fashion  had  already  secured  a  position,  and  thickly 
sprinkled  throughout  the  mass  were  the  sad-looking 
and  the  poorly  clad  —  mothers,  wives  and  children, 
who  had  again  assembled  to  see  whether  they  were 
to  be  shielded  from  their  woes.  The  legislators  looked 
thoughtfully  upon  the  array,  save  now  and  then  a  red- 
faced,  brawling  demagogue,  who  tried  his  pot  douse 


4:50  MINNIE    HERMON. 

wit  or  coarse  slang  upon  the  people,  who  minded  not 
his  bloated  and  insolent  features. 

Permission  had  been  granted  several  of  the  cham- 
pions of  the,  reform  to  occupy  the  floor  of  the  cham- 
ber in  advocacy  of  a  prohibitory  measure.  John 
Gault,  once  a  gutter  drunkard,  slowly  lifted  his  slen- 
der form,  and  in  low,  but  distinct  and  silvery  tones, 
addressed  the  representatives  of  the  people.  What  a 
trophy  had  been  wrenched  from  the  destroyer  when 
that  man  was  saved  !  With  tones  of  wondrous  magic 
and  depth,  his  words  rolled  out  and  reached  every 
heart  in  that  immense  audience.  He  kindled  as  he 
progressed,  his  words  glowing  and  burning  wtth  the 
true  eloquence  of  nature.  Then  was  witnessed  the 
power  of  one  of  nature's  orators.  He  swayed  the  au- 
dience at  will.  They  smiled,  or  wept,  or  frowned  in 
stern  indignation.  His  scenes  passed  before  them 
like  fearful  realities,  and  many  a  cheek  paled  as  he 
described  the  effects  of  intemperance  upon  the  drunk- 
ard and  his  home.  Shudders  at  times  crept  over  the 
strongest  frames,  and  eyes  unused  to  weeping  flood- 
ed at  a  touch  of  his  pathos.  He  plead  for  the  drunk- 
ards of  the  land  with  all  the  heart-fervor  of  one  who 
had  felt  the  scourge.  Anon  he  poured  down  the  most 
withering  invective  upon  the  traffic,  towering  and 
swaying  as  the  storm  howled  and  the  lightning  leaped 
from  his  quivering  finger,  and  the  large  drops  stand- 
ing out  upon  his  brow.  Such  was  John  Gault,  and 
as  he  closed  with  an  appeal  which  has  never  been  sur- 


A    STAR   IN   THE    EAST-  45] 

passed,  each  auditor  feared  to  stir,  so  deep  had  been 
the  spell  of  the  master. 

And  there  was  Halton,  too  —  the  grey-headed,  true 
and  iron-hearted  reformer.  His  warm  and  rugged 
eloquence,  though  less  brilliant  than  that  of  his  broth- 
er reformer,  had  that  sledge-hammer  earnestness  and 
strength  which  told  deeply  for  the  right. 

A  senator  then  canie  forward  and  addressed  the 
people.  In  that  tall,  noble-appearing  man,  we  recog- 
nized our  friend  from  the  southern  tier,  introduced  to 
the  reader  in  the  commencement  of  our  history,  Mr. 
Fenton.  We  awaited  eagerly  his  words,  for  he  was  the 
champion  of  the  prohibitionists  in  the  Senate. 

He  was  a  strong  man,  and  full  of  fire.  His  blows 
crushed  like  bolts,  as  with  resistless  logic  and  rare 
eloquence  he  hailed  them  upon  the  traffic.  His  full, 
dark  eye  kindled,  while  now  and  then  he  drew  him- 
self up  to  his  full  height,  and  with  his  thin  lip  curling 
•with  scorn,  he  swooped  down  upon  the  positions  of 
the  opposition. 

"  But  we  are  told,"  said  he,  "  that  this  measure  is 
not  demanded  by  the  people  —  that  it  will  ruin  the 
temperance  cause  by  reaction.  How  long  since  rum- 
sellers,  distillers,  rum-treating  demagogues  and  legis- 
lators of  easy  virtue,  who  were  elected  by  the  rum 
interest,  have  been  the  exclusive  friends  of  temper- 
ance ?  From  the  earliest  period  of  our  reform,  as  I 
very  well  know,  these  classes  have  found  fault  with 
all  the  measures  adopted  for  the  extinction  of  intem- 
perance, and  bitterly  opposed  them.  And  yet  they 


452  .         MINNIE  HERMON. 

now  presume  to  dictate  what  course  shall  be  pursued  ! 
This  measure  is  needed.  The  people  demand  it. 
It  is  in  vain  to  hope  to  remove  the  evil  by  regulation. 
The  present  law  is  an  admission  of  the  right  to  legis- 
late, and  the  power  which  brought  this  wrong  into 
legal  being,  has  a  right  to  remove  it.  The  history 
of  the  reform  shows  that  it  is  in  vain  to  roll  back  the 
evil  while  it  has  its  fountain  in  the  legislature. 
Drunkards  are  reformed  and  restored  to  their  fami- 
lies but  to  be  tempted  and  at  last  destroyed.  "We 
chain  them  down  to  the  rock  of  appetite,  and  then 
let  loose  a  swarm  of  vultures  to  pluck  their  vitals. 
You  may  as  well  expect  to  legalize  the  circulation  of 
the  plague  and  expect  no  one  to  die  with  it,  as  to  le- 
galize the  rum-traffic  and  expect  none  to  become 
drunkards.  No  moral  barrier  can  save  the  inebriate, 
his  family  and  home  from  the  consequences  of  a 
wrong  which  is  set  in  operation  by  law. 

"  But  this  is  a  moral  question.  So  it  is,  and  a  legiti- 
mate question  for  legislation.  It  concerns  the  dearest 
interests  of  society  —  the  happiness,  good  order,  mor 
ality  and  prosperity  of  a  great  people.  Moral  ques- 
tions of  far  inferior  moment  have  been  legislated  upon, 
and  none  have  complained.  Many  of  the  evils  that 
are  suppressed  by  strong  penal  enactments,  in  three- 
fourths  of  the  cases,  spring  directly  from  the  rum- 
traffic.  The  existing  law  is  an  answer  to  this  objec- 
tion. The  traffic  stands  branded  as  an  evil  —  one  of 
such  magnitude  that  laws  have  been  enacted  to  guard 
society  from  its  full  influence. 


A   STAR   IN   THE   EAST.  4:53 

"  We  hear  much  of  liberty  and  natural  rights. 
The  worst  outlaws  in  society  would  joy,  sir,  to  hear 
the  doctrines  advanced  on  this  floor.  I  am  yet  to 
learn  that  liberty  is  unbridled  license,  or  nakua* 
rights  a  code  for  civilized  and  Christian  people,  &s 
here  proclaimed.  Governments  are  formed  by  a 
surrender  of  certain  natural  rights,  and  the  weak  are 
protected  in  that  compact  as  well  as  the  strong.  The 
strongest  arm  does  not  then  rule,  nor  the  pistol  and 
knife  remain  the  umpires  between  man  and  man. 
Kurasellers  are  not  the  only  members  of  that  com- 
pact, and  they  would  not  dare  to  have  society  plunged 
into  chaos,  and  each  member  run  his  chance.  Were 
this  so,  God  knows  that  the  wrongs  of  many  a  heart 
and  home  would  have  been  most  signally  avenged. 
Dissolve  society,  and  woe  betide  the  rumsellers.  A 
man  may  dig  a  pit,  but  not  to  entrap  a  neighbor.  He 
may  let  an  unruly  ox  run,  if  there  are  none  to  injure. 
He  -may  build  his  mill-dam,  slaughter-house  or  soap- 
factory,  if  they  do  not  injure  the  public.  He  may 
keep  powder,  if  lives  are  not  endangered  ;  or  publish 
obscene  books,  if  there  are  none  to  read  them ;  or 
breed  rattlesnakes  and  mad-dogs,  if  there  are  none 
to  be  bitten  ;  he  may  do  all  this  by  natural  right, 
but  the  moment  he  becomes  a  member  of  the  social 
compact,  his  course  would  injure  others ;  and  one 
man's  interests  are  never  to  be  pushed  to  the  destruc- 
tion of  those  of  his  neighbors.  If  he  goes  into  socie- 
ty, he  is  bound  to  regard  the  welfare  and  rights  of 
the  whole;  if  ho  will  not,  let  him  assume  the  posi- 


454  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

tion  of  an  outlaw,  and  depend  upon  the  exercise  of 
his  natural  rights  for  the  protection  of  himself  and 
property.  Why,  sir,  this  law  is  no  new  thing.  It 
is  as  old  as  the  creation  of  man.  Its  principles  are 
laid  in  the  sublime  fobric  of  Divine  government. 
They  were  graven  upon  the  tables  of  stone — they  shine 
forth  in  revelation  — they  throb  in  the  great  heart  of 
our  common  humanity  —  they  are  recognized  and 
built  upon  in  every  civilized  government  in  the 
world.  Hunt  through  the  statutes  of  Christendom 
to-day,  and  you  will  find  the  principles  of  the  Maine 
Law  in  all  its  length  and  breadth,  and  height  and 
depth.  It  is  the  great  principle  of  the  general  wel- 
fare—  the  law  of  God,  of  love,  justice  and  truth,  ev- 
erywhere brought  out  in  Divine  government.  Pri- 
vate interest  must  always  give  way  to  the  common 
good.  The  pit  must  be  filled  up  or  guarded  ;  the  un- 
ruly ox  must  be  killed  or  pounded ;  his  mill-dam 
must  be  drained  ;  his  slaughter-house  and  soap-factory 
pulled  down,  his  powder  and  obscene  books  destroyed, 
his  dogs  and  snakes  muzzled  or  killed.  In  fine,  sir, 
that  is  a  most  damnable^  anti-republican  principle 
which  demands  that  the  good  of  a  whole  community 
shall  be  sacrificed  that  individuals  may  have  unbri 
died  license  in  their  selfishness,  and  prosper  in  wick- 
edness. It  is  a  principle  which  would  scatter  plague, 
and  cover  the  earth  with  rotting  dead,  that  doctors, 
sextons  and  undertakers  might  grow  rich.  It  is  a 
principle  which  has  filled  our  homes  with  desolation, 
ruined  the  living:,  and  damned  the  dead. 


A   STAR   IN   THE  EAST.  455 

"  But  we  are  told  that  we  cannot  legislate  men 
into  morality  —  can  coax,  but  not  coerce.  Ever  since 
God's  will  has  been  revealed  to  man,  penal  laws  have 
existed.  One  would  suppose,  to  hear  the  opposition 
declaim,  that  this"  earth  had  suddenly  become  a  Par- 
adise, and  its  inhabitants  angels.  They  do  not  stop 
to  tell  us  that  all  men  are  not  susceptible  of  moral  in- 
fluences—  that  but  for  penal  laws,  men  would  yet 
steal  their  fellows,  rob  the  traveler,  plunder  graves, 
burn  and  butcher.  With  all  our  safeguards,  educa- 
ted by  intemperance  and  its  kindred  vices,  crimes  of 
every  dye  continue  to  blacken  our  criminal  records, 
livery  penal  enactment  is  a  coercive  measure.  The 
mind  revolts  from  their  repeal,  or  the  regulation  of 
these  crimes — farming  out  for  silver,  the  right  to  a  few 
of  plundering  property  and  destroying  life.  We  co- 
erce every  enemy  of  society.  If  caught  violating  any 
of  its  ordinances,  he  is  punished.  The  provisions  of 
this  bill,  Sir,  are  no  more  arbitrary  than  our  present 
statutes.  The  rights  of  the  citizen,  the  sanctity  of  his 
property,  liberty,  or  dwelling,  are  not  more  jeopard- 
ized than  now.  If  stolen  goods  are  believed  to  be 
secreted  in  a  dwelling,  it  is  searched  from  cellar  to 
garret,  and  no  complaint  made.  The  counterfeiters' 
or  gamblers'  den  is  searched,  their  tools  destroyed, 
and  they  punished.  The  one  but  gambles  for  money 
with  an  equal  chance  ;  the  dealer  gambles  for  the 
money  of  his  victim,  with  appetite  to  aid  him  in  the 
play.  The  counterfeiter  turns  out  a  bogus  dollar : 

the  dealer  counterfeits  the  image  of  God,  and  aclulto- 
19 


456  MTNOTE   HEEMON. 

rates  immortal  coin.  Is  a  spurious  half-dollar  more 
dangerous  to  society  than  an  imbruted  and  beggared 
citizen  ?  And  yet  you  imprison  the  one  who  corrupts 
your  coin,  and  give  the  other  the  right  to  corrupt  and 
blight  every  pure  current  in  the  hearts  of  your  peo- 
ple. The  dealer  would  resort  to  the  coercion  of  legal 
process,  were  a  five-dollar  counterfeit  bill  to  be  put 
oft'  upon  him,  and  yet  he  claims  the  natural  liberty  of 
so  marring  the  moral  beauty  of  his  own  kind,  and  of 
blighting  their  manhood  that  a  demon  stands  in  the 
place  of  a  kind  and  high-minded  citizen !  "Who  has 
ever  complained  of  the  exercise  of  law  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  health  of  community  ?  Are  not  many 
kinds  of  food  interdicted,  the  diseased  citizen,  forcibly 
seized  and  thrust  into  the  pest-house,  the  vessel  com- 
pelled to  lie  in  quarantine,  or  its  cargo  destroyed  and 
even  the  vessel  itself  sunk,  if  the  public  health  do 
mands  the  measure  ?  Does  not  our  government,  in 
time  of  war,  quarter  troops  in  our  dwellings,  appro- 
priate stores  and  teams,  and  compel  the  citizen  to  as- 
sist? Such  measures  are  arbitrary ;  but  when  the 
public  interest  demands  them,  the  patriot  will  not 
complain. 

"Again.  We  are  told  that  the  law  cannot  be  en- 
forced without  bloodshed  and  violence  —  the  present 
law  is  sufficient.  I  believe,  Sir,  the  American  people 
are  preeminently  law-abiding.  They  are  familiar 
with  the  democratic  doctrine  of  the  majority.  When- 
ever public  sentiment  assumes  power  to  force  from 
reluctant  legislators  a  law  for  the  protection  of  the 


A    STAK   IN   THE   EAST.  457 

people  from  a  terrible  evil,  is  it  not  believed  that  they 
will  see  that  it  is  enforced  ?  The  law  has  been  en- 
forced. It  is  no  longer  an  experiment.  It  has  been 
tried,  and  its  success  has  become  a  matter  of  history. 
Without  violence  or  bloodshed,  the  people  of  a  neigh- 
boring State  crushed  the  evil  at  a  blow !  And  were 
a  thousand  lives  to  be  sacrificed  in  carrying  into  effect 
a  law  like  this,  their  blood  would  be  but  the  drop  in 
the  ocean,  when  compared  with  that  which  has  for 
ages  smoked  upon  Christian  altars,  The  cry  of  mur- 
der comes  on  every  wind ;  crime  stalks  upon  the  heels 
of  crime  at  midday  ;  from  its  Aceldemas  red-handed 
butchery  runs  with  its  smoking  blade  to  the  commis- 
sion of  fresh  atrocities,  until  our  criminal  records  are 
crimson  with  hot  gore,  and  the  scaffold  casts  its  shad- 
ow in  every  part  of  the  land.  Our  dungeons  swarm 
with  murderers,  and  thence  the  slayer's  feet  are  con- 
tinually beating  their  way  to  the  gibbet,  until  the  de- 
tails of  murder  and  execution  are  as  familiar  to  our 
people  as  the  newspapers  which  come  to  their  dwell- 
ings. And  those  who  manufacture  all  these  butchers 
are  going  to  resist,  to  the  knife,  the  enactment  which 
shuts  up  these  schools  of  crime  !  As  to  the  present 
law,  it  is  the  merest  humbug  that  ever  outraged  a 
Christian  people.  It  is  a  stupendous  farce,  as  also  an 
infamous  wrong.  It  is  a  compromise  between  good 
and  evil  —  with  iniquity  —  a  yoking  of  saint  and 
devil  —  a  compound  of  heaven  and  hell  —  an  infer- 
nal adulteration  which  lifts  up  and  legalizes  wrong, 
and  pulls  down  the  right  —  a  draping  of  the  three- 


458  MINNIE   HEBMON. 

mouthed  dog  of  the  pit  in  the  habiliments  of  a  guard- 
ian angel,  to  stand  and  smile  at  the  door-sills  of  the 
pits  on  earth.  The  principle  would  associate  the 
arch  fiend  with  Deity  on  the  throne  of  Heaven,  and 
mingle  the  wails  of  the  lost  with  the  praises  of  the 
redeemed.  It  would  unite  the  worlds  of  bliss  and  of 
woe,  and  place  angels  on  a  footing  with  devils.  Sir, 
does  God,  in  his  government,  recognize  such  a  prin- 
ciple ?  Do  his  laws  regulate  theft,  swearing,  perjury, 
murder,  &c.  ?  Do  his  retributions  slumber  when  so- 
called  respectable  men  trample  upon  his  laws  ?  Do 
his  penalties  fall  without  modification  upon  the  most 
abandoned,  while  sinners  of  "  good  moral  "  character 
enter  in  and  dwell  at  his  right  hand  ?  Does  he  strike 
hands  with  iniquity  ?  Can  those  who  have  wealth, 
and  power,  and  respectability,  transgress  his  com 
rnandments,  and  go  unpunished  ?  Where,  in  any  civ 
ilized  government  now  existing  on  earth,  is  this  prin- 
ciple made  the  basis  of  legislation,  save  in  the  legali- 
zation of  the  rum  traffic  ?  Supposing,  Sir,  that  the 
legislature  should  legalize  the  crimes  which  are  now 
punishable  with  imprisonment  and  death  for  the  pur- 
pose of  restraining  them  ?  That  they  should  empower 
a  selection  of  good  moral  men  to  perpetrate  those 
crimes,  so  as  to  have  the  perpetration  legal,  moral, 
and  respectable  ?  That  men  should  be  selected  to  rob, 
to  steal,  to  gamble,  to  counterfeit,  to  commit  forgery, 
to  burn  buildings,  to  murder  ?  The  most  common 
intelligence  would  revolt  at  the  damning  wickedness; 
and  treat  such  legislators  as  madmen  or  knaves.  The 


A   STAB    IN    THE    EAST.  459 

popular  breath  would  at  once  sweep  them  into  lasting 
infamy.  Yet  the  license  system  is  a  creature  of  legal 
enactment,  and  stands  before  the  world  this  day  as  the 
great  fountain-head  of  nearly  all  the  crimes  which 
endanger  the  peace  and  blacken  the  character  of  socie- 
ty. Men  are  selected  to  engage  in  this  traffic,  and  the 
government  sells  the  accursed  l  indulgence.'  If  but 
a  good  moral  character  is  endorsed  by  the  excise 
commissioners,  the  seller  becomes  a  state  officer  —  a 
legal  instrument  —  a  servant  of  the  people,  empow- 
ered to  nerve  the  villain's  arm  which  carries  the  torch 
or  lifts  the  knife,  to  burn  or  to  destroy.  He  scatters 
firebrands  and  death  throughout  the  land,  blights 
hopes  as  bright  as  bliss,  destroys  happiness  the  holiest 
and  purest,  and  sweeps  on  like  an  avenging  storm, 
until  all  that  is  pure  in  childhood,  noble  in  manhood, 
or  venerable  in  old  age,  is  withered  and  crushed  to 
earth.  Life,  happiniess,  and  hope  ;  virtue,  love  and 
truth,  are  alike  blasted  by  these  men,  selected  by  the 
State,  and  protected  by  its  laws.  And  all  this  to 
restrain  and  regulate  the  traffic!  The  policy  is 
wrong  in  motive,  impolitic  in  principle,  atrocious  in 
its  execution,  and  most  cpuel  in  its  consequences.  It 
is  a  principle  so  damnable  in  its  conception  and  char- 
acter, and  so  sweeping  and  remorseless  in  its  destruc- 
tion of  human  happiness  and  life,  that  it  may  well 
crimson  the  cheek  of  an  American  freeman  with 
deepest  shame.  Regulation  and  restraint ! 

"  Sir,  in   the   days  when   indulgences  were   sold, 
when  every  kind  of  vice  was  licensed  and  rcgulaied, 


£60  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

tliis  abomination  would  not  have  been  out  of  place, 
though,  more  thoroughly  infamous  than  any  of  its  kin- 
dred iniquities.  Mark  these  inconsistencies  —  the 
inefficiency  of  the  law  in  securing  the  object  designed, 
and  its  demoralizing  influence  upon  public  sentiment, 
and  its  legal  waste  of  happiness  and  life  —  and  blush 
that  so  foul  a  stain  has  a  resting-place  upon  the  stat- 
ute books  of  our  people.  We  go  upon  the  principle 
of  choosing  a  good  man  to  engage  in  a  devilish  busi- 
ness. We  give  respectability  to  a  business  denounced 
by  God  ;  a  business  which  crushes  the  rights  of  hu- 
manity and  destroys  the  sanctity  of  religion,  its  every 
footstep  smoking  with  the  hot  blood  of  the  hearts  it 
has  crushed.  Our  commissioners  would  appear  as 
honorable,  and  far  more  humane,  if  they  were  to  select 
men  of  good  moral  character  to  steal,  burn,  and  kill, 
and  do  society  far  less  injury. 

"  There  is  a  regulation,  in  the  matter  of  selling  to 
drunkards.  Indeed,  the  license  law  is  professedly  to 
restrain  intemperance.  Need  I  point  you  to  the  re- 
sults ?  Whence  come  this  vast  army  of  drunkards, 
who  throng  every  avenue  of  life,  and  with  ceaseless 
tread  move  on  to  the  grave  ?  Where  are  the  foun- 
tains which  feed  this  stream  of  wrecked  humanity  3 
Where  is  the  cause  ?  Day  and  night,  from  year  to 
year,  the  unbroken  columns  move  on.  The  grave 
Bwallows  forty  thousand  in  twelve  months.  The  sod 
has  hardly  closed  upon  a  fearful  sacrifice,  before  its 
cold  arms  are  thrown  up  to  embrace  as  many  more. 
And  so  this  host  moves  on.  Recruits  are  ever  enlist- 


A   STAR   IN   THE  EAST.  461 

ing.  The  youth  in  the  saloon  takes  the  drunkard's 
place.  And  so  back  until  the  legions  are  wrapt  in  the 
sunlight  of  youth,  the  diorama  of  life  is  moving.  And 
so  it  has  moved  for  ages  —  that  measured  and  gloomy 
tramp  taking  hold  upon  dishonored  death.  Rumsell- 
ers  never  wish  men  to  die  drunkards,  and,  under  a 
wise  law,  never  sell  to  drunkards.  And  so  we  '  regu- 
late '  whole  armies  of  human  beings  into  premature 
graves  every  year  that  rolls  around.  When  —  when, 
Sir,  will  intemperance  be  so  regulated  by  our  present 
system  that  our  green  land  shall  not  become  one  vast 
burial-ground  for  drunkards  ? 

"  We  are  told  that  the  sale  is  justifiable,  because 
the  license  money  goes  into  the  treasury  !  This  poli- 
cy furnishes  us  with  another  strong  reason  why  the 
whole  system  should  be  removed.  It  is  one  of  the 
strongest  arguments  against  legalizing  the  traffic.  The 
principle  involved  is  one  of  unadulterated  wickedness. 
Government  thus  assumes  the  attitude  of  a  speculator 
in  the  lives  and  happiness  of  its  subjects.  With  one 
arm  it  thrusts  its  victims  upon  the  begrimmed  altars, 
and  with  the  other  grasps  eagerly  for  the  price  of  the 
sacrifice.  Here  it  stands  upon  its  pedestal  of  the 
heart-broken,  the  dying,  and  the  dead,  a  remorseless 
Moloch  enthroned,  and  smiling  upon  the  enginery  of 
death  which,  for  gain,  it  has  set  in  motion.  There  ia 
something  hideous,  something  revolting  in  the  aspect. 
Like  an  unnatural  parent,  it  destroys  its  own  for  a 
price.  Those  whom  it  should  guard  and  protect  are 
thrust  beneath  the  ponderous  wheels  which  roll  in 


4:62  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

ruin.  Men,  women,  and  children  ;  youth  in  the  buoy- 
ancy of  its  hopes,  and  old  age  in  its  locks  of  gray,  are 
alike  offered  up.  Society  thus  immolates  all  its  most 
cherished  interests  for  pay,  and  secures  to  itself  the 
glorious  privilege  of  bearing  ten-fold  burdens,  build- 
ing poor-houses  and  prisons,  and  digging  graves.  It 
sells  the  lives  of  its  own  citizens.  Christian  men  sit 
down  deliberately  and  say  to  those  who  wish  to  sell 
rum,  in  so  many  words,  '  How  many  pieces  of  silver 
will  you  give  us  if  we  will  betray  these  women  and 
children  into  your  hands  ? '  All  this  is  cool  and  de- 
liberately cruel.  Life  and  all  its  bright  hopes  are 
thus  bartered  away,  while  an  oath  sits  heavy  on  the 
soul.  Do  not  your  cheeks  tinge  with  shame  as  you 
take  in  the  length  and  breadth  of  this  policy  ?  Even 
in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view  it  is  ruinous.  For  every 
dollar  thus  received,  hundreds  are  paid  out.  It  is  a 
fearful  and  perpetual  drain  upon  the  substance  of  the 
people.  Evils  are  sown  broadcast,  and  we  reap  a 
burdening  harvest  of  woe,  want,  crime  and  death. 
All  that  we  cherish  in  this  world  and  hope  for  in  the 
next,  is  put  in  the  scale  with  dollars  and  cents.  For 
five  or  ten  dollars,  a  man  is  delegated  to  scatter  a 
moral  plague  throughout  the  laud,  and  fatten  upon 
the  substance  of  the  people.  Let  our  commissioners 
look  at  the  silver  they  have  received.  It  is  the  tribute 
of  blood.  It  has  been  wrung  from  the  crushed  hearts 
of  the  ruined,  and  is  clammy  with  drops  of  blood.  It 
is  hot  wilh  the  scalding  tears  of  widowhood  and  or- 
phanage. As  it  falls  into  the  public  coffers,  its  dull 


A    STAR    IN    THE    EAST.  463 

sound  echoes  the  wail  of  the  famished  and  defense- 
less. Ho!  for  the  price  of  blood!  Hoard  it  well; 
for  an  ever-living  and  watchful  God  has  put  its  cost 
on  record.  Over  against  it,  to  be  tested  at  the  tri- 
bunal of  the  Judgment,  stands  the  record  of  the  un- 
utterable evils  of  the  rum-traffic.  And  as  witnesses 
against  it,  will  stand  the  myriads  whom  the  policy 
destroyed  on  earth. 

"  You  talk  of  property  —  this  evil  wars  upon  all 
property.  It  paralyzes  industry,  thus  working  deep 
and  irreparable  injury  to  individual  and  national 
prosperity.  Its  cost  to  the  American  people  is  hardly 
to  be  comprehended  in  all  its  extent.  The  direct  cost 
is  enough  to  arouse  the  patriot  against  it ;  indirectly, 
its  corroding  effects  leave  their  blighting  mildew 
wherever  it  exists.  Our  poor-expenses  tower  until 
the  people  groan  under  their  weight.  The  hard  earn- 
ings of  the  tax-payers  of  the  country  are  annually  as- 
sessed to  meet  the  cost  of  the  sale  of  rum.  The  fam- 
ily is  beggared,  and  the  people  support  them.  The 
drunkard  ruins  his  health,  breaks  a  limb,  or  sustains 
some  injury  from  his  drinking  habits,  and  becomes  a 
public  charge.  A  citizen  wastes  his  substance  in  the 
dram-shop,  and  from  one  gradation  of  vice  to  another, 
at  last  becomes  a  criminal.  If  he  counterfeits,  com- 
mits forgery  or  burglary,  the  people  try  him  and 
foot  the  bills.  If,  inflamed  by  the  people's  rum,  he 
thrusts  the  torch  into  the  city  at  night,  thousands  arc 
licked  up  by  the  flames ;  and  if  the  incendiary  is 
caught,  he  is  imprisoned  or  hung,  and  the  forbearing 


464  MINNIE    IIERMON. 

people  foot  the  bills.  If,  in  a  drunken  broil,  lie  takes 
the  life  of  a  fellow-being,  the  people  try  him,  hang 
him,  and  foot  the  bill.  Tims  circles  round  the  great 
maelstrom.  From  the  bar-room  to  the  alms-house, 
prison  and  scaffold,  a  great  highway  has  been  cast 
up,  beaten  hard  by  continually  thronging  thousands. 
Every  day's  history  records  a  fresh  crime.  Our  pris- 
ons are  thronged.  The  executioner  is  busy  hanging 
up  the  effects  of  the  traffic.  The  blood-offering  of  one 
murder  ceases  not  to  smoke  upon  the  glutted  shrine, 
before  another  victim  is  prepared  from  the  bar-room. 
The  press  teems  with  the  sickening  details.  The  great 
fountain-head  of  crime  sweeps  on  with  increasing  vol- 
ume, and  red-handed  murder  stalks  forth  even  at 
noonday,  with  the  axe  and  the  knife  hot  with  gore. 
Lesser  crimes  swarm  like  locusts,  all  combining  and 
swelling  an  amount  of  tax  which  is  drawn  from  the 
life-blood  of  the  people.  The  rum-traffic  costs  the 
American  people  more  than  three  hundred  millions 
of  dollars.  And  this  is  the  pecuniary  aspect,  merely. 
This  annual  drain  would  bind  our  land  in  one  unbro- 
ken net-work  of  railroads,  telegraphs  and  canals  ;  dot 
every  hill-side  with  school-houses  and  churches ;  erect 
charitable  institutions  wherever  afflicted  humanity 
groans  under  misfortune,  and  make  the  blessings  of 
education  as  free  as  the  air  we  breathe.  Patriotism 
—  that  love  of  country,  its  institutions,  and  people, 
which  beats  warmly  and  truly  in  the  heart  —  should 
awaken  our  strongest  opposition  to  a  cancer  which 
eats  so  faially  upon  the  business  interests  of  the  land 


A    STAR    IN    THE    EA.ST.  465 

we  live  in.  We  might  enlarge  upon  this  point,  but 
it  needs  it  not.  Trace  back  the  history  of  any  com- 
munity, and  you  will  be  astonished  at  the  amount  of 
its  waste.  Sift  your  tax-lists,  and  it  will  be  found  that 
the  cost  of  the  rum-traffic  is  one  of  the  most  grinding 
burdens  borne  by  the  American  people.  What  a  po- 
sition for  a  nation  of  freemen  !  Sacrificing  the  prop- 
erty and  health  of  its  citizens  for  the  pastime  of  sup- 
porting them  as  paupers  !  Our  people  are  liberal  to 
a  few.  They  foster  vice  and  a  crime,  that  a  few  may 
reap  a  pecuniary  harvest.  They  make  paupers,  and 
build  alms-houses  to  keep  them  at  the  public  expense. 
They  manufacture  criminals  of  every  grade,  and  then 
furnish  officers  to  catch  them,  try  them,  and  punish 
them.  They  build  prisons,  and  annually  make  large 
appropriations  to  sustain  them  —  reservoirs  where 
they  sweep  in  the  criminals  they  have  made,  brand- 
ing their  own  offspring  with  infamy,  and  compelling 
them  to  toil  for  naught.  They  instigate  murder,  and 
are  at  the  expense  of  building  a  scaffold  to  hang  the 
guilty  instruments  of  their  creation.  In  fine,  they 
educate  an  army  of  children  for  all  that  is  wicked, 
and  then  punish  them  for  putting  their  teaching  into 
practice.  Were  we  a  rumseller,  we  should  look  with 
a  smile  of  contempt  upon  such  people.  They  would 
give  us  the  privilege  of  coining  money  out  of  the  de- 
struction of  man's  temporal  and  eternal  interests,  and 
then  kindly  support  all  the  paupers,  and  hang  all  the 
murderers  we  might  make.  Such  a  policy  in  an  in- 
dividual would  be  madness.  And  so  it  is  madness  in 


466  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

a  great  people.  It  is  a  heathenish  offering  np  of  then 
own  vitals  to  the  rending  talons  of  the  monster  which 
is  enthroned  in  every  dram-shop  throughout  the  land. 
Sir,  we  honor  that  high-toned,  unbending  love  of  lib- 
erty and  justice  which  characterized  the  conduct  of 
our  revolutionary  fathers.  They  put  every  thing  at 
stake,  rather  than  bear  the  burdens  of  unjust  taxa- 
tion. War  became  to  them  one  of  the  most  imperi- 
ous of  human  obligations,  and  the  battle-field  '  the 
sublimest  theatre  of  patriotic  achievement  and  heroic 
martyrdom.'  They  left  their  plows  in  the  furrows, 
and  their  homes  to  the  protection  of  Heaven,  and 
grappled  boldly  with  England's  strength.  That  same 
spirit  would  to-day  make  every  true  patriot's  heart 
beat  high  with  indignation,  and  arouse  a  storm  which 
would  forever  destroy  one  of  the  most  grinding  op- 
pressions on  earth.  The  spirit  which  hurled  the  tea 
into  Boston  harbor,  would  seize  and  destroy  every 
barrel  of  rum  designed  for  the  injury  of  society. 

"  The  gentlemen  on  the  other  side  have  spoken  elo- 
quently about  the  vast  amount  of  property  invested 
in  the  traffic.  It  is  an  unworthy  argument.  Were 
the  wealth  of  the  universe  of  God  staked  in  the  traffic, 
it  should  not  weigh  one  moment.  There  are  immor- 
tal interests  staked  in  human  hearts.  Mind  and  hap- 
piness —  virtue,  puVity  and  peace,  are  worth  more 
than  all  the  wealth  of  the  material  universe.  The 
weal  of  men  here  and  hereafter,  cannot  be  put  into 
the  scale  with  dollars  and  cents.  The  crushed  and 
ruined  —  the  mother,  wife  or  child,  who  has  been 


A   STAR   IN   THE   EAST.  467 

scourged  and  robbed,  would  turn  with  withering  scorn 
from  the  cold  and  heartless  computation  of  her  wrongs, 
in  money.  The  structures  of  earth  pass  away,  but 
the  property  of  the  mind  is  indestructible,  and  lifts 
up  proudly  amid  the  '  wreck  of  matter,'  and  exists 
while  God  exists !  There  is  something  sad  in  wander 
ing  among  the  ruins  of  empires  where  nations  lie  en 
tombed.  More  sad  the  scene  of  a  mind  in  ruins. 

"  We  weep  from  a  heavy  heart  as  we  see  the  gloom 
of  a  rayle*  night  gathering  over  the  mind,  and  the 
structure  which  was  moulded  by  the  hand  of  God 
crumbling  into  ruins.  The  mind  is  property  — prop- 
erty which  is  of  more  value  than  all  the  wealth  of  the 
material  universe.  And  here  is  where  we  find  one  of 
the  most  startling  effects  of  intemperance.  Here  5s 
where  the  system  wars  upon  a  class  of  property  which 
cannot  be  computed  by  dollars  and  cents.  Here  are 
ruins,  thickly  strewn  up  and  down  the  land,  over 
which  the  patriot,  philanthropist  and  Christian  can 
weep  with  keenest  sorrow. 

"  Sir,  had  I  a  constellation  of  worlds  like  this,  I 
would  resign  it  all,  if  every  star  were  a  diamond  of 
priceless  worth,  if  the  slight  sacrifice  would  buy  the 
loved  and  the  lost  from  death  and  the  grave. 

"  Sir,  our  wives  and  children  demand  this  measure. 
Humanity  pleads  this  day.  You 'protect  the  dead  in 
their  graves,  the  trees  in  our  parks,  the  animals  in  our 
yards,  the  deer  in  our  forests,  and  the  fish  in  our  wa- 
ters ;  and  why  not,  by  all  that  is  brave,  manly  and 
good,  protect  our  homes,  our  wives  and  children  ? 


468  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

Tell  me,  Sir,  why  not?  Look  at  the  course  of  this 
evil  which  we  ask  you,  in  behalf  of  suffering  humani- 
ty, to  prohibit. 

"  It  spares  neither  age  nor  sex.  Its  trophies  are 
more  to  be  dreaded  than  those  at  the  red  man's 
belt,  snatched  from  the  throbbing  brow  of  innocence. 
The  system  is  cruel,  mercilessly  cruel.  It  wars  upon 
the  defenceless — upon  women  and  children.  Its  most 
desolating  strife  is  at  the  fireside.  We  execrate  it  for 
its  cowardice,  as  well  as  its  injustice  and  cruelty. 
Those  who  are  never  seen  abroad,  and  who  never 
lifted  a  hand  or  a  voice  against  the  seller,  are  crushed 
down  with  remorseless  coolness.  If  men  alone  were 
destroyed,  without  wringing  the  hearts  that  are  linked 
with  them,  it  would  not  seem  so  damnable.  But  why 
should  a  Christian  government  and  a  Christian  people 
war  upon  the  happiness  of  the  defenseless  inmates  of 
the  household  ?  Why  should  woe  and  want  be  car- 
ried into  our  homes?  Why  should  our  mothers,  and 
wives,  and  daughters  be  scourged  until  they  weep 
drops  of  blood  ?  Why  should  children  be  turned  out 
with  no  inheritance  but  orphanage  and  disgrace  ? 
Why  should  the  props  and  pride  of  old  hearts  be 
snatched  away  and  broken  ?  Why  —  in  God's  name 
tell  us  !  in  this  land  of  plenty,  where  our  barns  gush 
with  fatness,  where*  our  fields  groan  under  the  har- 
vests which  roll  like  golden  oceans  to  the  kiss  of  the 
sunbeams,  and  where  an  ever-kind  Providence  has 
scattered  his  blessings  on  every  hand,  should  women 
and  children  go  hungry  for  bread  ?  Why  should  our 


A  STAR   IN   THE   EAST.  469 

sons  be  turned  out  to  be  drawn  into  the  whirlpool  of 
crime,  and  our  daughters  to  forget  all  that's  womanly, 
and  sink  in  vice  for  their  daily  bread  ?  Is  this  Chris- 
tianlike  ?  Is  it  like  freemen  ?  Why  should  our  homes 
be  transformed  into  hells,  and  the  husband  and  father 
into  a  demon,  to  torture  and  kill  ?  Why  must  those 
whom  we  love  be  torn  with  hunger  and  grief,  that  a 
few  men  may  fatten  by  selling  rum  ? 

"  I  need  not,  Sir,  speak  to  this  body  of  the  danger 
to  the  purity  of  our  elective  franchise  from  the  rum- 
traffic  —  all  know  it.  The  traffic  is  a  foul,  corroding 
cancer  upon  this  dear-bought  boon  —  the  legacy  of 
revolutionary  hardship  and  death.  It  was  won  at  a 
fearful  cost.  It  is  an  anchor  which  shall  hold  in  the 
storm  —  a  bulwark  behind  which  a  people  can  gather 
and  hurl  back  destruction  upon  those  recreant  to  free- 
dom and  to  right.  But  it  is  prostituted  to  the  basest 
purposes,  and  trampled  in  the 'dust.  It  is  wrenched 
from  its  honorable  and  legitimate  purpose,  and  upon 
a  tide  of  rum  and  corruption,  made  to  bear  bad  men 
into  stations  of  emolument  and  trust.  These  facts  are 
written  in  the  history  of  every  election  day  which  has 
transpired  since  rum  entered  the  field.  There  are 
those  who  will  recognize  a  more  than  '  fancy  sketch ' 
in  our  rapid  hints.  And  is  there  nothing  saddening, 
nothing  iilarrning,  in  this  wide-spread  corruption  of 
demagogism  ?  With  rum  yoked  in  unholy  alliance, 
it  stalks  through  the  land,  and  stands  in  its  huge  and 
damning  deformity  at  the  pools.  It  leans  over  the 


470  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

ballot-box  with  a  leer  of  triumph.  It  comes  forth 
from  the  drunkeriesof  the  land,  reeking  with  all  that 
ie  foul,  and  shouts  its  triumphs  in  the  very  citadel  of 
the  popular  will.  Thus  libertines,  gamblers  and 
drunkards,  slime  into  our  town,  county,  State  and  na- 
tional legislatures,  and  have  to  do  with  all  the  inter- 
ests of  the  society  in  which  we  live.  This  tide  must 
be  checked  and  rolled  back.  This  accursing  union 
must  be  broken  into  pieces.  The  lightning  of  a  peo- 
ple's will  must  fall  upon  this  demagogism,  and  crush 
it  to  earth,  or  our  freedom  will  be  but  a  name,  the 
elective  franchise  but  a  badge  of  servitude,  and  the 
pillars  of  our  free  institutions  will  roll  like  dust  before 
the  storm. 

"  Yes,  as  God  is  our  judge,  were  there  no  other  rea- 
son, we  should  arouse  for  a  conflict  with  the  rum  in- 
terest for  the  evil  it  has  done  and  is  doing  to  the  purity, 
stability,  character  and  permanency  of  our  cherished 
political  institutions.  Here  is  enough  to  alarm.  And 
yet  a  large  class  of  the  American  people  slumber 
without  concern  over  this  crater,  which  is  charged 
with  violence  and  anarchy.  Were  we  to  point  to  the 
most  threatening  dangers  to  the  prosperity  of  these 
States  and  the  perpetuity  of  their  free  institutions,  we 
should  single  out  that  class  of  evils,  of  Protean  phase, 
which  breed  in  foul  luxuriance  in  the  rum-shops  of 
our  land. 

"  But  I  will  not  detain  this  body  too  long,  though 
I  believe  this  bill  to  be  one  of  the  most  important 


A   STAR    IN   THE   EAST.  47l 

that  ever  claimed  the  attention  of  a  deliberative  body. 
The  world  is  watching  the  course  of  these  States  upon 
this  question.  Interests  as  lasting  as  eternity,  are  in- 
volved. The  homes  of  this  great  commonwealth  thia 
day  contain  anxious  hearts,  and  prayers  are  going  up 
that  the  right  may  triumph.  By  our  love  of  virtue 
and  good  order,  of  domestic  happiness  and  peace  — 
home  and  its  circle  —  our  own  green  land,  and  God; 
by  every  sacred  and  hallowing  tie  which  binds  the 
good  man  to  his  hearth  altars,  kindred,  country  and 
Heaven,  let  us  obey  the  people  and  our  own  conscien- 
ces, and  vote  for  this  bill ;  and  so  shall  the  whole  land 
be  filled  with  joy  and  thanksgiving,  the  fire  be  again 
kindled  on  the  desolate  hearth,  and  hope,  in  the  sor- 
rowing heart ;  men  shall  get  drunk  no  more  ;  peace, 
happiness  and  hope  shall  smile  again  iri  the  dark  hab- 
itations ;  the  waste  places  shall  be  made  glad,  and 
the  wilderness  blossom  as  the  rose,  our  stricken  wives 
and  mothers  weep,  and  their  children  at  the  hearth 
clap  their  tiny  hands  for  joy !  " 

The  throng  slowly  dispersed,  but  as  the  sun  was  set- 
ting in  the  unclouded  west,  the  starry  sheet  above  the 
Capitol  rolled  out  more  proudly  than  was  wont,  and 
upon  the  wings  of  lightning  the  news  was  flashed  to 
the  north,  south,  east  and  west,  the  "  MAINE  LAW  BILL 
HAS  PASSED  !  " 

"  Too  late  !  "  said  our  old  widow  friend  of  the  pre- 
vious winter,  bat  the  old  drunkard  was  there,  and  sat 


4:72  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

down  upon  the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  and  wept  like  a 
child.  Throughout  the  State,  the  mother  hugged  her 
child  to  her  bosom  with  a  thrill  of  gladness,  and 
from  the  home  altars  of  a  Christian  people,  glad 
hearts  lifted  their  benisons  to  the  God  of  the  right. 
—  THE  PLAGUE  WAS  STAYED!" 


OHAPTEE    XXXIY. 

TWO   RESCUES. 

"  PRAISE  be  to  God  for  this  day.  It  will  live  with 
the  birth-day  of  our  country,  and  be  commemorated 
with  bonfires  and  illuminations,  and  by  the  prayers 
and  shouts  of  a  happy  people.  But  oh,  if  it  had  come 
long  years  ago,  what  anguish  might  have  been  spared. 
A  world  of  sorrow  and  crime  would  never  have  been 
written.  But  thy  will,  O  God,  be  done." 

We  recognized  ourfrieud,  the  revivalist,  in  the  gal- 
lery of  the  House,  as  the  Speaker  declared  the  result 
of  the  final  ballot,  bowing  his  white  head  reverently 
as  he  spoke,  and  for  some  minutes  hiding  his  face  in 
his  hands.  By  his  side  stood  a  tall,  attenuated  per- 
sonage in  singular  costume,  his  beard  uncut,  and  his 
thin  hair  falling  negligently  upon  his  shoulders.  His 
emaciated  countenance  was  pale,  but  the  dark,  deep, 
sunken  eye  glowed  with  steady  brilliancy.  He  had 
watched  the  debate  and  the  vote  with  the  keenest 
scrutiny,  his  lips  now  and  then  moving  nervously  as 
he  half  whispered  his  thoughts.  His  left  arm  hung 
nerveless  by  his  side  ;  and  in  his  right  hand  he  held 
a  long  staff. 

"  Yes,  and  it  will  be  done.    The  wicked  shall  be 


474:  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

overtaken,  and  the  wrongs  of  the  innocent  avenged. 
The  destroying  angel  has  been  commissioned  to  go 
forth,  and  the  hosts  of  hell  shall  be  smitten  in  all  the 
land.  "Woe  !  woe !  for  the  day  has  come  !  In  the  might 
of  the  Lord  men  shall  go  forth,  and  the  wicked  shall 
be  found  in  their  secret  hiding  places,  and  the  dark 
beverage  of  hell  be  given  to  the  flames,  or  spilled 
upon  the  earth.  There's  joy  in  Heaven,  peace  on  the 
earth,  and  good  will  to  men,  for  the  day  of  the  Lord 
has  come.  The  chain  shall  be  struck  from  the  cap- 
tive and  the  prison-door  be  opened.  Hallelujah  to 
God,  for  to-day  the  monster  is  chained,  and  the  plague 
is  stayed."  So  vehemently  spoke  the  companion  of 
the  revivalist,  as  lie  stood  by  the  side  of  his  more 
meek-appearing  companion,  bringing  his  heavy  staff 
almost  fiercely  down  upon  the  floor  at  every  sentence. 

"  Yes,  the  plague  is  stayed.  God  has  prospered 
the  right  this  day.  JSTow  to  our  business,  and  then  for 
Oakvale.  Sure  enough,  the  prison  door  shall  be 
opened." 

The  two  passed  out  of  the  chamber,  followed  by  a 
crowd  who  had  been  attracted  by  the  words  and 
manner  of  the  tallest  speaker.  They  were  seeking 
the  Governor's  mansion,  to  the  great  wonderment  of 
those  who  had  followed  them  into  the  street. 

The  reader  will  remember,  in  a  previous  chapter, 
the  interview  between  Minnie  Hermon  and  Walter 
Brayton,  which  was  interrupted  by  Lane.  The  latter 
individual  had  dogged  the  footsteps  of  Minnie  to  the 
jail,  and  under  pretence  of  doing  a  pressing  errand 


TWO    RESCUES.  475 

to  the  prisoner,  gained  admittance  to  the  hall  leading 
to  the  cells.  He  had  stolen  noiselessly  to  the  door, 
and  had  caught  the  word  "  oath,"  as  it  fell  from  Min- 
nie's lips. 

Two  hours  from  that  time,  her  father  put  a  note 
into  her  hand,  purporting  to  be  from  a  sick  woman 
over  the  river,  and  urging  her  immediate  attendance. 
Minnie  knew  the  woman  and  her  situation,  and  im- 
mediately threw  on  her  cloak  and  started.  A  fine 
snow  was  falling  fast,  and  the  night  was  so  dark  that 
she  could  hardly  distinguish  the  outlines  of  the  moun- 
tains against  the  heavy  sky.  The  woman  she  was 
going  to  see  lived  in  the  outskirts  of  the  village,  on 
an  unfrequented  by-road  leading  up  into  the  moun- 
tain. As  she  turned  from  the  main  road  she  felt  the 
grasp  of  a  heavy  hand  upon  her  shoulder,  and  strong 
fingers  at  her  throat.  The  assault  had  been  so  sud- 
den that  she  had  no  opportunity  of  raising  an  alarm, 
and  in  a  moment  she  was  gagged  and  lifted  upon  a 
horse  behind  another  person,  and  borne  rapidly  away. 
Her  eyes  were  bandaged,  but  she  knew  that  her  course 
was  up  the  mountain.  She  could  hear  another  horse 
alongside,  and  therefore  judged  that  there  were  two 
persons  besides  herself  in  the  company.  She  heard 
the  roaring  of  the  falls,  and  notwithstanding  her  sit- 
uation, she  thought  of  the  circumstance  which  made 
her  acquainted  with  Braytou,  and  of  all  the  events 
which  had  so  rapidly  followed  that  acquaintance 
There  had  been  more  shadow  than  sunshine  across 
the  pathway. 


476  MINNIE   IIEKMON. 

After  riding  a  long  time,  and  until  she  was  be- 
numbed with  cold,  a  halt  was  made.  The  party  had 
descended  the  mountain,  and  were  near  the  "  chasm," 
a  gorge  of  dark  and  lonely  character,  at  the  bottom 
of  which  a  stream  swept  fiercely  over  rocks  and  falls. 
The  horses  were  hitched,  and  Minnie  heard  the  step- 
ping of  two  persons,  as  they  went  back  a  short  dis- 
tance and  commenced  conversation  in  a  suppressed 
tone  of  voice.  Her  attention  was  painfully  excited, 
but  she  could  not  distinguish  the  subject  of  the  con- 
versation. 

There  seemed  to  be  a  difference  of  opinion  between 
the  two  individuals  in  relation  to  some  matter  con- 
cerning her,  and  as  the  dispute  waxed  warmer,  she 
caught  its  import ;  and  as  she  recognized  the  voice 
of  Jud  Lane,  a  shuddering  heart-sickness  well-nigh 
robbed  her  of  her  senses.  Knowing  the  man,  as  she 
did,  the  unbroken  darkness  around,  and  a  wild,  bleak 
mountain  seldom  trodden,  between  her  and  any  hu- 
man habitation,  it  is  no  wonder  that  her  head  swam 
and  her  heart  grew  sick  with  fear  and  despair. 

"  D n  it,  Jud !  I  wouldn't  do  it,  I  tell  you. 

They  will  miss  her  at  the  village,  and  hunt  the  whole 
country." 

"  How  long  is  it  since  you  became  so  tender-heart- 
ed ?  You  say  that  dead  cats  never  mew." 

"  Well,  I  know,"  and  Minnie  recognized  the  speak- 
er as  Burt  Yanderwalt,  a  notorious  desperado,  "  but 
the  truth  is,  I  can't  say  I  like  this  women  business; 
men,  can  get  along  with." 


TWO   RESCUES.  477 

"  But  if  your  life  depended  upon  one's  gossiping 
tongue  —  what  then  ?  " 

"  Can't  say ;  but  devil  hang  me  —  if  I  want  to 
choke  one  of  'em  to  save  another  man's  neck,  any 
how." 

"  Not  if  that  would  save  you  from  state  prison  ? " 
sneeringly  asked  Lane. 

"  Ho,  ho !  Jud  Lane,  think  you  can  frighten  a  Yan- 
derwalt,  eh  ?  A  prison  better  than  a  deadfall  in  pub- 
lic, Jud  Lane  ?  " 

"  Pshaw  !  Burt,  I  didn't  mean  nothing,  for  you  and 
I  are  friends" 

"Ought  to  be,  I  guess,  and  without  my  tipping 
this  confounded  woman  into  the  '  chasm.'  " 

"But  what  can  we  do,  Burt?" 

"  You  needn't  say  we,  'cause  I  have  been  with  you 
in  some  ugly  scrapes,  or  think  that  I'll  take  to  kill- 
ing women  'cause  I  love  rum.  If  this  was  my  job, 
I  should  say,  take  her  to  Syd's.  He'll  put  her  where 
all  h — 11  won't  find  her.  Folks  sent  there  never  re- 
turn again,  you  know" 

"  That's  a  fact ;  but  perhaps  it's  better  to  do  that. 
I  must  be  back,  though,  to-morrow ;  but  I'll  give  you 
ten  dollars  to  take  her  there  and  give  Sid  the  wink." 

"  Wai,  guess  I'll  do  it !  Blasted  cold  night,  though. 
Shouldn't  wonder  if  she'd  freeze." 

"  So  much  the  better,  if  she  does." 

"  No,  not  for  me.  Min.  Hennon  never  did  me  any 
harm,  Lane,  and  I  cussedly  hate  to  have  anything  to 
do  with  the  business  —  did  in  the  first  start." 


478  srnrarE  HERMON. 

"  Well,  well,  no  matter ;  you  can  stop  at  the  Old 
Morgan  Clearing  and  put  up.  You  can  build  a  fire 
in  the  cabin  and  stop  awhile." 

"  Not  for  ten  dollars,  though,  Jud  Lane,  on  such  a 
night  as  this." 

"  How  much,  then  ?  " 

"  Why,  if  the  thing  is  any  object  to  you,  you  can 
make  it  twenty,  I  reckon." 

"  Make  it  twenty,  then,  seem'  it's  you,  and  now  go 
ahead.  Bide  fast,  and  keep  your  eye  out.  Good, 
night." 

Lane  goaded  his  horse  into  a  gallop  as  he  turned 
his  head  towards  Oakvale,  and  Yanderwalt,  leading 
the  horse  Minnie  was  on  by  the  bridle,  pushed  on 
through  the  forest.  She  was  chilled  through  and 
through  with  severe  cold,  but  felt  relieved  at  the  ab- 
sence of  Lane. 

An  hour's  brisk  riding  took  them  to  the  Morgan 
Clearing,  a  small  opening  on  the  mountain  side,  where 
a  deserted  cabin  alone  invited  the  chance  wanderer  or 
the  hunter.  Yanderwalt  lifted  Minnie  from  her  horse 
in  his  brawny  arms,  and  then  folding  his  own  bear- 
skin overcoat  around  her,  proceeded  to  strike  and  kin- 
dle a  fire.  It  was  only  after  a  good  deal  of  effort  and 
sundry  abrupt  expletives,  that  he  succeeded  in  kin- 
dling a  blaze.  Minnie  never  saw  a  more  cheerful 
blaze,  though  the  rude  tenement  was  both  empty  and 
cheerless,  and  the  snow  had  sifted  in  through  many 
a  wide  opening.  As  the  first  light  shone  directly  upon 
the  darkness,  she  looked  keenly  at  her  companion, 


TWO   RESCUES.  479 

anxious  to  read  his  countenance,  for  the  thought  of 
her  situation  in  the  forest  was  startling.  She  had 
often  seen  him  at  her  father's  tavern  ;  and  on  one  oc- 
casion, she  had  done  him  an  act  of  great  kindness^ 
though  she  did  not  suppose  that  one  of  his  character 
would  remember  such  acts  with  gratitude.  As  the 
snow  was  pushed  away  and  the  heat  of  the  fire  dried 
the  ground,  he  urged  her  to  sit  nearer,  and  even  of- 
fered to  assist  her,  as  he  noticed  that  she  could  hardly 
move  her  benumbed  limbs.  For  a  long  time  she  suf- 
fered the  most  excruciating  pains  from  the  effects  of 
the  heat,  and  as  it  left  her  fingers  and  feet,  she  could 
hardly  keep  from  closing  her  eyes  ;  but  she  dared  not 
do  it.  Vanderwalt  noticed  her  weariness,  and  was  at 
a  loss  how  to  say  something  which  was  evidently  on 
his  mind. 

"  "Not  much  chance  for  a  lady  like  you  to  sleep 
here,  I  reckon,  Miss  Hermon,"  said  he,  with  an  em- 
barrassed air,  looking  towards  an  old  frame  of  poles, 
covered  with  dried  hemlock  boughs,  "  and  —  ahem — 
I  'spect  we  oughtn't  to  stay  here  till  daybreak.  Pla- 
guy tough  night,  though,  for  a  woman  to  be  out. 
Darned  if  I  don't  wish  I'd  stayed  ter  hum." 

Minnie  had  made  no  answer,  though  there  was  a 
tone  of  respect,  of  honesty  in  the  man's  voice,  which 
gave  her  hope,  and  she  ventured  to  ask  him  why  she 
had  thus  been  decoyed  from  home,  and  brought  into 
the  mountains  in  such  a  night. 

"  I'm  sorry  —  swow  I  be,  Miss  Hermon,  but  I  can't 
tell  that.  Jud  —  that  other  man,  knows  more  than  I 
20 


4:80  MINNIE  HERMON. 

do  'bout  that  business,"  answered  Burt,  looking  for 
the  first  time  steadily  into  her  face.  '  But  if  I'd  a 
known  what  the  job  was,  I  wouldn't  a  come  for  him 
nor  no  other  man  —  swow  I  wouldn't,  Miss  Hermon." 

"  Take  me  back,  then,  to  Oakvale,  and  I  will  re- 
member the  kindness  as  long  as  I  live.  Take  me 
back  to-night ! " 

"  No,"  thoughtfully  answered  Burt,  watching  with 
surprise  the  sudden  action  of  Minnie,  "  can't  do  that ; 
I  have  — have  bargained  to  take  you  somewhere  else, 
and  it  must  be  done,"  and  the  burly  ruffian  looked 
towards  the  doorway  with  evident  fear,  and  dropped 
his  voice  to  a  whisper. 

"  But  let  me  take  the  horse,  and  I  will  go  forward 
and  escape  you,"  she  plead  with  a  meaning  look. 

"  That  will  not  do,  either,"  he  muttered,  as  he  edged 
his  way  nearer  the  door,  as  if  to  prevent  her  from 
such  a  ruse.  Minnie  started  and  retreated  a  step  be- 
hind the  fire. 

"  Don't  never  fear  me,  Miss  Hermon,  if  I  have  <» 
hard  name.  You  did  me  a  favor  once,  and  I  never 
forget  such  things.  I  wouldn't  harm  a  hair  of  your 
head,  though  hadn't  it  a  been  for  me,  I  'spect  you 
wouldn't  a  been  here  now.  But  I  darsn't  go  back. 
Ton  shan't  be  harmed,  Miss,  while  Burt  Vanderwalt 
is  a  friend  to  you.  This  is  an  awful  n:ght,  and  I'll 
run  the  risk  of  staying  till  daybreak.  Too  bad,  I 
BWOW,  for  any  women  kind  to  be  out." 

Pleading  was  of  no  avail,  and  after  exhausting  all 
her  powers  of  persuasion,  Minnie  gave  up  the  attempt 


TWO   RESCUES.  481 

in  despair,  trusting  in  God  to  guard  her.  Burt 
stripped  the  bearskins  from  the  saddles,  and  with  his 
own  coat  made  the  old  bed  of  boughs  as  comfortable 
as  he  could,  and  insisted  that  she  should  lie  down 
close  by  the  fire,  and  not  "  worry,  for  things  might  all 
come  around  right  yet."  Pulling  a  bottle  from  his 
side  pocket,  he  offered  it  for  her  to  take  a  drink  from. 

Minnie  recoiled  from  the  tender  with  ill-concealed 
disgust.  Seeing  that  Burt  felt  hurt  at  such  a  recep- 
tion of  his  well-meant  offer,  she  explained,  that  it  had 
cursed  her  and  her's,  being  the  fruitful  cause  of  all 
her  troubles.  The  people  of  Oakvale  were  happy 
until  rum  came  among  them.  Even  talk  upon  the 
temperance  question  passed  away  the  dismal  hours  ; 
and  Minnie  entered  into  the  subject  with  an  enthusi- 
asm that  bore  her  mind  away  from  the  circumstances 
that  surrounded  her.  As  she  detailed  the  effects  of 
rum  in  Oakvale,  Burt  listened  respectfully,  then  with 
interest,  and  as  his  better  nature  came  once  more  up- 
permost, he  felt  a  warmth  in  his  eyes,  and  fell  to  kick- 
ing the  fire  to  hide  his  weakness,  as  he  believed  it  to 
be.  As  she  ceased  speaking,  after  supposing  him  an 
unwilling  or  angry  listener  from  the  violence  with 
which  he  kicked  the  fire,  the  notorious  tippler  sat  for 
a  long  time  in  thought,  with  his  bottle  in  his  hand 
and  its  contents  untasted. 

"  True  as  preachin',  every  cussed  word  the  gal  said," 
he  muttered  to  himself,  as  he  half-angrily  put  the  cork 
into  the  bottle,  and  replaced  it  in  his  pocket.  "  Ev- 
ery word  true  —  cuss'd  if  'taint.  If  'twan't  for  some 


482  MINNIE   HERMON. 

things — rum  again,  old  Burt!  "  and  he  ground  his 
teeth  in  thought.  "  If  'twan't  for  some  things,  I'd 
jine  the  temp'rance  concern,  and  quit  drinking.  Bet- 
ter done  it  years  ago,  Burt.  I'll  think  of  that.  Any 
how,  the  gall  shan't  be  harmed,  if  I  hang  for  it.  Jud 
Lane  may  go  to  the  devil." 

The  revivalist  suddenly  disappeared  from  Oakvale. 
His  absence  and  that  of  Minnie  Ilermon,  left  a  blank 
tn  the  enjoyments  of  Bray  ton  which  caused  his  mind 
to  relapse  into  despondency  and  gloom.  "With  haughty 
mien  and  a  heart  full  of  bitter  feelings,  he  gave  him- 
self up  to  his  fate.  He  knew  not  that  a  single  friend 
was  making  an  eflbrt  to  fathom  the  circumstances 
which  rendered  his  case  so  hopeless. 

On  the  afternoon  of  a  late  winter  day,  a  white 
headed  man  was  seen  wending  his  way  over  one  of 
the  bleak  mountains  of  Pennsylvania,  his  long  beard 
covered  with  frost,  and  his  footsteps  weary  from  his 
toilsome  day's  journey.  He  was  well  known  in  that 
vicinity,  and  was  cordially  welcomed  to  the  homes  of 
most  of  the  honest-hearted  yeomanry.  For  years, 
without  money  and  without  price,  he  had  traveled 
among  them  and  preached  the  gospel,  his  mildness, 
unassuming  benevolence  and  humble  manners,  win- 
ning the  esteem  of  the  more  thoughtless.  The  reader 
will  recognize  the  revivalist  in  the  aged  traveler,  and 
learn  that  some  object  of  more  than  usual  interest  has 
induced  him  to  make  the  toilsome  winter  journey 
frcm  Oakvale. 


TWO   RESCUES.  483 

"Are  you  acquainted  with  one  Sid  Lane,  who  lives 
in  these  parts  ?  "  asked  the  revivalist  of  his  friends 
where  he  stopped  for  the  night. 

"  Yes,  believe  there  is  such  a  man  back  a  few  miles 
over  the  mountain ;  but  few  know  anything  of  the 
man,  nor  do  they  seem  to  want  to.  He  shuns  every- 
body." 

"  Does  he  live  in  the  log  house  by  the  ledge?  " 

"  Yes,  believe  he  does." 

"  Don't  know,  I  suppose,  whether  he  has  any  con- 
nection living? " 

"  Do  not ;  and  it  would  be  as  much  as  a  man'a 
head  was  worth  to  find  out.  He's  a  very  bad  man. 
People  say  he  came  from  York  State  for  no  good." 

"  Did  he  come  from  Oakvale  ?  ' 

"  Guess  that  was  the  place,  or  some  such  name, 
Pretty  hard  set  there,  I  guess,  if  the  stories  are  all 
true."  The  revivalist  colored  and  changed  the  con- 
versation. 

"  Hasn't  there  been  a  report  in  circulation  that  & 
wild  man  has  been  seen  in  a  cavern  up  the  ledge, 
and  been  heard  to  scream  —  a  tall  man  with  a  long 
beard  ? " 

"  There  has  ;  and  between  you  and  me,  [lowering 
his  voice  to  a  whisper,]  I  guess  it's  true  ;  for  one  of 
my  brothers  was  along  at  the  time.  They  had  been 
hunting,  and  just  at  night  cut  across  the  gorge,  you 
see,  to  get  home  before  dark.  Upon  the  mountain 
they  heard  a  scream  like,  just  as  though  'twas  some- 
thing human.  They  thought  'twas  a  panther,  and  so 


484:  MINNIE  HEKMON. 

concluded  they  would  keep  a  lookout.  And  then 
they  heard  singing,  and  a  jabbering  like  some  one 
crazy.  They  crept  among  the  rocks,  and  between 
two  big  ones  said  they  saw  a  tall,  wild-looking  critter 
behind  stout  wooden  timbers,  gnashing  his  teeth  just 
as  if  he  was  mad,  and  rattling  his  chains.  While 
they  were  looking,  Sid  Lane  came,  and  before  they 
saw  him,  stood  before  them  with  his  hand  upon  his 
hunting-knife.  He  raved  terribly,  and  swore  that 
if  he  ever  caught  a  live  man  on  his  premises  again, 
he  would  be  the  death  of  him.  I  wouldn't  go  there 
for  any  money.  Guess  the  wild  man  must  be  some 
crazy  relation  of  his'n." 

"I  don't  know  how  that  may  be,  but  I  have  particular 
reasons  for  wishing  to  see  this  man  —  must  see  him. 
Who  is  there  that  can  be  hired  to  show  me  the  way 
up  the  ledge  ? " 

"  Don't  know  of  a  man  in  the  settlement  who  would 
do  it,  unless  it  is  my  youngest  boy,  Sam.  He  is  a 
perfect  dare-devil,  and  is  always  in  some  such  scrape. 
I  don't  know  but  I  might  consent  for  him  to  go  with 
you  just  to  accommodate,  but  I  am  plaguy  'fraid  that 
trouble  will  come  of  it." 

"  I'll  take  that  risk.  Sam,  as  you  call  him,  need 
not  go  farther  than  will  be  necessary  to  direct  me  to 
the  spot  where  this  wild  man  was  seen." 

The  revivalist  found  a  ready  spirit  in  Sam  Janson, 
and  after  breakfast  the  two  started  over  the  moun- 
tain. It  was  a  long  and  exciting  journey,  the  moun- 
tain being  made  up  of  immense  jagged  rocks,  hcr.ped 


TWO   RESCUES.  485 

in  wildest  confusion,  a  scattering  growth  of  spruce 
and  birch  clinging  to  rift  and  seam  for  a  rugged  sup- 
port. Here  and  there  deep  chasms  were  gashed  in, 
the  loose  boulders  and  stunted  timber  shutting  the 
sunlight  from  the  gloomy  depths.  To  avoid  all  chance 
of  meeting  Lane,  they  took  a  wide  detour,  which  used 
up  the  best  part  of  the  day  before  they  neared  the 
spot  sought.  The  snow  lay  over  the  fissures,  and  the 
ascent  of  the  ledge  was  toilsome  and  even  dangerous. 
As  they  neared  the  head  of  the  gorge  in  which  re- 
port had  located  the  wild  man,  the  revivalist  insist- 
ed that  Janson  should  keep  a  lookout  from  the  crag, 
as  the  height  commanded  a  view  of  the  pass  where 
the  outlaw's  cabin  was  located. 

Alone,  the  old  man  set  out  on  his  strange  adven- 
ture. After  disappearing  down  the  rocks  among  the 
undergrowth,  he  pulled  a  pistol  from  his  pocket  and 
examined  it  carefully.  There  was  fire  in  the  man's 
eye  and  a  vigor  in  his  step,  which  was  in  striking  con- 
trast with  one  of  his  character  and  age,  and  yet, 
asleep  or  awake,  at  the  evening  prayer,  or  preaching 
on  the  camp-ground,  the  weapon  had  for  years  been 
his  constant  companion.  His  footsteps  had  been  dog- 
ged by  a  sleepless  foe  —  the  very  man  who  claimed 
the  section  where  he  was  treading. 

The  sun  had  left  the  gorge  in  a  night-like  gloom, 
and  the  old  man  began  to  despair  of  effecting  the  ob- 
ject of  his  journey,  when  he  noticed  a  track  on  the 
table  below  him,  leading  still  deeper  into  the  gorge. 
He  hesitated  a  moment  to  see  that  the  fresh  track  had 


4:86  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

returned,  and  then  with  the  vigor  of  youth  he  sprang 
lightly  down  and  followed  the  first.  As  he  reached 
the  bottom  of  the  fearful  chasm,  he  stopped  and  lis- 
tened with  breathless  attention.  Being  confident  that 
whoever  might  that  day  have  visited  the  bottom,  they 
must  be  beyond  hearing,  he  put  his  fingers  to,  his 
mouth  and  gave  a  low  but  prolonged  and  shrill  whis- 
tle. Three  times  he  repeated  the  sound  with  no  re- 
sponse save  the  echoes  which  faintly  died  away  down 
the  gorge.  Night  was  upon  him,  but  lie  could  not 
abandon  his  purpose,  and  he  again  followed  the  track 
across  the  bottom  until  it  struck  the  other  ledge,  and 
wound  deftly  among  the  rocks.  He  whistled  again 
and  awaited  the  result. 

High  above,  as  if  in  the  upper  air,  a  wild  and  spec 
tral  ha,  ha,  burst  strangely  distinct  from  some  un- 
known source.  The  revivalist  grasped  his  staff  with 
excitement,  and  kept  his  hand  upon  his  pistol,  listen- 
ing with  a  heart  beating  violently  with  mingled  emo- 
tions. He  heard  the  same  voice  again,  now  swelling 
out,  in  a  tone  at  once  melodious  and  shrill,  in  afamil 
iar  hymn  often  sung  in  the  country  meetings. 

The  revivalist  whistled  again,  though  the  violence 
of  his  feelings  almost  unmanned  him.  He  hoped,  and 
yet  feared.  There  was  something  in  the  voice  which 
thrilled  like  a  well-remembered  tone,  and  should  his 
hopes  be  realized,  the  prayer  of  his  heart,  with  its 
most  cherished  purpose,  would  be  accomplished. 

"Mock,  ye  human  devils!  I  hear  you,  but  fear 
you  not.  I  was  sick,  and  you  bound  me  and  cast 


TWO    RESCUES.  4.87 

me  into  prison,  where  you  visited  me  not.  But  an 
arm  that  is  mighty  to  save  shall  break  the  bands  and 
let  the  captive  go  free." 

There  was  no  mistaking  that  voice :  and  with  great 
difficulty  the  listener  threaded  his  way  up  the  ledge, 
guided  somewhat  by  the  voice  above,  alternating  with 
denunciation  and  song.  When  nearly  half-way  up 
the  ascent  from  the  base,  the  path  led  between  two 
huge  boulders  out  upon  a  shelving  rock,  hanging  per- 
pendicular over  the  precipice.  In  the  high,  abrupt 
wall  immediately  back,  was  a  wide  seam  like  an  in- 
verted letter  -y,  and  from  this  point  the  sound  still  pro- 
ceeded. The  revivalist  doubted  no  longer,  for  the 
voice  was  familiar,  and  he  could  have  shouted  for  joy. 
The  thread  of  plotting  wickedness  was  almost  in  his 
hand.  The  clear  sky  reflected  upon  the  high  and  ex 
posed  situation,  revealing  in  the  fissure  a  rough  frame 
work  of  timbers,  let  down  through  a  cross-fissure  a 
few  feet  back,  and  firmly  wedged.  And  from  such  a 
fastness  the  sound  of  a  human  voice  proceeded.  Af- 
ter resting  a  moment  from  the  severity  of  his  ascent 
and  the  oppression  of  his  thoughts,  the  revivalist  ad- 
vanced and  stood  close  to  the  timbers,  vainly  attempt- 
ing to  penetrate  the  darkness  within.  From  an  im- 
mense depth  the  sounds  still  came,  with  a  plaintive 
melody,  followed  by  a  burst  of  rage  and  defiance.  The 
revivalist  again  put  his  hands  to  his  mouth  and  gave 
a  low  whistle.  The  v  Dice  within  ceased  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  then  there  was  a  rattling  of  chains,  and  a 
wild  ha,  ha ! 


4:88  MINNIE    HERMON. 

"  Come  on  !  come  on,  ye  human  devils.  The  Lord 
will  smite  you  with  his  vengeance.  Even  in  chains  I 
scorn  you." 

The  listener  waited  a  moment,  and  then  in  low  and 
deliberate  tones,  pronounced  a  name. 

"  Ha !  What's  that  ?    Who  calls  me  ?  " 

"A  friend." 

"  Who  can  that  be  —  my  mother  ?  She  comes  in 
my  dreams ;  but  it's  so  cold  here  she  cannot  stay. 
But  an  angel  has  promised  to  let  me  out  and  give 
me  wings,  and  then,  woe  to  those  who  bound  me. 
My  swoop  shall  be  terrible." 

"  How  came  you  here?  "  continued  the  revivalist, 
as  he  stood  sadly  listening  to  the  muttering  of  the 
msane. 

"  How  came  I  here?  ha!  ha !  How  came  human 
devils  on  earth  ?  Ask  Skillott  —  ask  Jud  Lane  —  ask 
the  devil  down  the  ledge.  How  came  you  here  to 
deceive,  and  to  cut  my  throat  ?  Let  me  out,  and  I'll 
elay  forty  and  two  thousand  of  you  ?  " 

"  I  have  come  to  let  you  out  —  a  friend  from  Oak- 
vale.  Come  nearer." 

There  was  a  rattling  of  chains,  and  footsteps  care- 
fully approached  the  timbers. 

"  Here,"  reaching  his  arm  in  between  them,  "  put 
your  hand  in  mine,"-  again  speaking  that  familiar 
name,  and  mentioning  some  circumstances  of  the  past, 
"and  know  that  you  have  a  friend  that  will  save 
you." 

Lightly,  like  the  touch  of  a  cat,  long,  cold  fingers 


TWO   RESCUES.  489 

were  dropped  suspiciously  upon  the  revivalist's  palm, 
the  latter  all  the  time  speaking  in  a  winning,  soothing 
tone.  Silently  the  captive  felt  of  the  hand,  and  then 
up  the  arm  ;  then  grasped  the  palm  in  both  of  his, 
and  stooped  and  kissed  it,  the  revivalist  feeling  warm 
drops  as  the  hairy  lips  touched  his  palm. 

"And  don't  you  know  me  ?  Didn't  you  ever  hear 
my  voice  before  ? " 

"  I  have,  but  it  was  a  long  while  ago  !  "  The  re- 
vivalist was  overjoyed  to  witness  the  soothing  effect 
of  his  words,  and  continued  to  converse  with  the  cap- 
tive. Looking  around  warily,  he  put  his  mouth  to 
the  widest  opening,  and  whispered  something  in  the 
captive's  ear. 

« hallelujah!" 

"  Hush !  never  speak  that  word  to  mortal  ear,"  and 
the  startled  revivalist  again  looked  behind  him  un- 
easily. 

"  You  know  me,  then ! " 

"  I  do.  And  have  you  come  to  let  me  out  ?  Oh, 
if  I  could  go  back  to  Oakvale.  There's  a  great  work 
there  for  me  to  do.  But  it  may  be  too  late.  How 
long  have  I  been  here  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  tell ;  but  to-morrow  night  you  shall  go 
free.  You  must  wait  and  keep  silent" 

"  I'll  wait  if  it's  God's  will ;  but  it's  so  cold  and 
dark  here.  You'll  surely  come  ?  " 

"  If  I  live,"  and  the  revivalist  slowly  withdrew  his 
hand  from  the  reluctant  captive's  strong  grasp,  and 
slowly  pursued  his  way  down  the  ledge.  At  the  base 


4:90  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

he  met  a  person  in  the  path,  whom,  in  the  darkness, 
he  could  hardly  recognize.  Hastily  cocking  his  pis- 
tol, he  demanded  who  was  there. 

"  Why,  Sam  Janson  !  I  didn't  know  what  might 
happen,  and  so  kind  a  walked  along  a  little.  No 
harm  done,  I  hope  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no  ;  but  let  us  hurry  on." 

In  spite  of  the  blunt,  though  cordial  remonstrance 
of  young  Jauson,  the  revivalist  insisted  that  the  for- 
mer should  return  to  the  settlement  and  procure  an 
axe,  saw  and  iron  bar,  and  return  by  the  next  eve- 
ning, leaving  him  (the  revivalist)  on  the  mountain. 
The  latter  was  determined  not  to  be  foiled  in  the  ob- 
ject of  his  coming. 

He  watched  eagerly  in  his  concealment  for  the 
coming  of  the  night,  often  regretting  that  he  had  not 
himself  gone  back  to  the  settlement  so  as  to  have 
made  sure  of  his  implements.  But  just  as  it  began 
to  grow  dusk,  a  low  whistle,  as  agreed  upon,  indicated 
the  return  of  Janson.  He  had  failed  in  procuring  an 
iron  bar,  and  as  a  substitute,  had  brought  a  heavy 
crane  from  the  fire-place  at  home.  Silently  the  two 
pursued  their  way  down  into  the  gorge  and  across 
the  bottom.  Here  the  revivalist  posted  young  Jan- 
eon  with  his  rifle,  with  instructions  to  give  him  timely 
warning  of  any  approach  from  below,  and  with  his 
tools  commenced  the  ascent.  The  silence  was  bro- 
ken only  by  the  lonely  hooting  of  an  owl  across  the 
gorge,  and  the  sighing  of  the  winds  as  they  swept 
through  the  stunted  mountain  pines.  Approaching 


TWO   RESCUES.  491 

the  entrance,  he  listened  for  a  moment  and  then 
asked  : 

" ,  are  you  here  ?  " 

"  How  could  I  be  anywhere  else  with  these  ungodly 
chains  upon  me  ?  "  soberly  though  somewhat  bitterly 
replied  the  captive,  immediately  advancing  and 
eagerly  clasping  the  hand  thrust  between  the  timbers. 
"And  you  have  come  to  let  me  out !  It  seemed  so 
long  since  you  were  here  that  I  feared  it  was  a  mad- 
man's dream.  I  have  feared  I  was  mad.  Do  you 
think  I  am  ?  " 

"  It's  enough  to  make  any  one  mad  —  a  place  like 
this.  But  daylight  will  not  find  us  here,"  cheerfully 
answered  the  revivalist,  laying  off  his  coat  and  com- 
mencing a  thorough  examination  of  the  timbers.  The 
iron  crane  was  not  of  sufficient  strength  to  pry  them 
apart  so  as  to  admit  his  body,  and  he  commenced 
with  the  saw,  often  stopping  to  listen.  The  sweat 
rolled  down  his  face,  but  he  worked  with  unabating 
vigor,  and  soon  cut  out  one  of  the  heavy  timbers. 
"With  the  crane  in  hand,  he  stepped  into  the  cavern 
and  called  the  captive's  name,  being  immediately 
clasped  in  a  strong  embrace  and  loaded  with  blessings. 
Upon  examination,  he  found  that  one  of  the  legs  of 
the  captive  was  in  irons,  the  chain  fastened  to  the 
ankle  by  a  padlock,  and  to  the  heaviest  timber  of  the 
doorway  by  a  large  staple.  Inserting  the  crooked 
end  of  the  crane  into  the  link  in  the  staple,  he  twisted 
it  against  the  latter  until  it  snapped  in  two.  With 
the  head  of  the  axe  carefully  applied,  the  padlock 


4:92  MINNIE  HEEMON. 

was  soon  broken  to  pieces,  and  the  fetters  unloosed 
from  the  leg.  In  silence  the  captive  —  now  no  longer 
so  —  followed  his  deliverer  into  the  open  air,  when 
he  paused,  looked  up  to  the  sky,  drew  a  long  breath, 
and  then  locked  his  hands  in  silent  prayer. 

"  Have  you  strength  to  follow  me,  asked  the  re- 
vivalist. 

"  Strength  enough ;  havn't  starved  ;  the  devils  did 
not  wish  that." 

"  Then  follow  !" 

They  had  not  half  made  the  descent  into  the  bot- 
tom of  the  gorge,  when  a  rifle  shot  rang  out  upon  the 
night  air,  giving  warning  of  an  unwelcome  approach, 
immediately  followed  by  Janson's  footsteps  as  he 
sprang  lightly  up  the  steep  path.  The  three  immedi- 
ately stepped  behind  a  rock  and  awaited  farther  re- 
sults. The  revivalist  was  intensely  anxious  about  his 
companion,  fearing  that  his  mind  was  not  sufficiently 
sound  to  meet  calmly  a  new  danger ;  but  his  heart 
beat  lighter  as  he  saw  him  in  the  dim  light,  by  his 
side,  and  cool  as  he  ever  had  been  in  a  time  of  diffi- 
culty and  danger. 

"While  the  revivalist  was  peering  around  the  path 
to  scan  the  approach  from  below,  a  bullet  pierced  his 
hat  and  scalp,  grazing  the  skull,  and  prostrating  him 
to  the  ground. 

"  There,  meddler !  I  saw  your  track,  and  have  paid 

you  for  your  curiosity,  I  reckon.  I  knew  you,  

,  all  the  time,"  chuckled  Sid  Lane,  as  he  ap- 
proached the  now-struggling  revivalist. 


TWO   RESCUES.  493 

"And  I  know  you,  Sid  Lane  !  and  the  Philistines 
be  upon  you,"  howled  the  Hermit,  (for  it  was  he,) 
springing  fiercely  upon  the  former  as  he  stooped  to 
thrust  his  knife  into  the  prostrate  revivalist,  with  a 
howl  almost  unearthly  from  its  bitter  fierceness. 

Lane  had  been  taken  by  surprise,  he  supposing  tho 
gun  below  was  fired  by  the  one  whom  he  had  shot, 
and  not  suspecting  that  there  were  others  in  his  com- 
pany. The  struggle  was  brief.  With  one  desperate 
exertion  of  his  strength,  the  Hermit  caught  up  the 
withered  old  man,  and  in  spite  of  his  struggles,  car- 
ried him  to  the  edge  of  the  rocky  path  and  hurled 
him  off,  muttering  as  he  listened  after  the  fall  below, 
and  then  turned  to  look  to  the  revivalist.  That  per- 
sonage was  not  injured,  save  a  severe  wound  in  the 
scalp,  and  had  recovered  from  the  stunning  effects  of 
the  shot.  The  three  immediately  commenced  their 
night-journey  to  the  settlement. 

Lane  was  not  badly  injured  by  his  fall,  as  there 
happened  to  be  a  table  of  rocks  between  him  and  the 
precipice ;  but  he  wisely  chose  to  shun  the  odds 
against  him,  and  trust  to  other  chances  to  carry  out 
his  purposes.  He  ground  his  teeth  and  swore  bitterly 
when  he  found  that  his  enemy  had  not  been  killed  by 
his  shot. 

—  They  will  meet  once  more. 


CHAPTER   XXXV. 

DJ    WHICH   THE    READER   WILL   SEE   SOME   ACQUAINTS  CE8 
AND   THE   RESULTS    OF   THE   WOEK. 

THERE  was  a  happy  day  in  Oakvale,  for  the  Maine 
Law  had  passed,  and  drunkenness  was  to  be  no  more. 
The  day  when  the  law  was  to  go  into  force,  was  to  be 
commemorated  with*bonfires  and  illuminations ;  by 
prayers,  songs  and  shouts  ;  by  the  ringing  of  bells  and 
the  firing  of  cannon.  At  sunrise,  the  roaring  of  the 

o  *  o 

latter  awoke  the  people,  and  ushered  in  a  day  of  fes- 
tivity and  joy.  The  cannon  had  been  placed  over 
the  river  and  far  up  the  mountain,  and  the  smoke 
from  its  hoarse  lungs  rolled  away  like  a  banner,  and 
rested  in  the  air  of  the  clear  spring  morning.  There 
was  not  a  cloud  in  the  sky.  The  sparrows  and  blue- 
birds had  just  returned  to  sing  a  welcome  to  the  bud- 
ding leaf  and  flower.  There  was  a  constant  tramp- 
ling of  feet  upon  the  walks,  as  the  masses  gathered 
from  the  surrounding  country,  by  twos  and  by  scores. 
They  came  on  foot,  on  horse-back,  and  in  carriages. 
Many  a  family  had  left  the  house  to  take  care  of  itself, 
so  eager  were  the  women  and  children,  especially,  to 
witness  the  rejoicings.  Groups  of  children  in  their 
Sunday  suits  wei'e  tripping  here  and  there,  and  with 
few  exceptions,  all  wore  smiling  countenances.  Flags 


GOOD   RESULTS.  495 

from  windows  and  from  ropes  stretched  across  the 
principal  streets,  wrought  with  appropriate  devices, 
were  fluttering  gaily  in  the  breeze.  Many  a  drunk 
ard,  sober  from  necessity,  was  observed  to  watch  tho 
streamers  and  listen  to  the  music  of  the  bands,  until 
he  was  borne  away  with  the  spirit  of  the  day,  and 
smiled  upon  the  scene.  Poorly  dressed  mothers  with 
ragged  but  clean-looking  children,  came  forth  for  the 
first  time  in  years,  .and  watched  the  proceedings  with 
deep  interest.  The  church  in  which  the  meeting  was 
to  convene  was  bedecked  with  evergreen,  tastefully 
wrought  into  vines,  festoons,  and  beautiful  devices. 

The  firing  of  the  cannon  shook  the  dark  walls  of 
the  prison,  and  startled  a  band  of  felons  which  had 
just  "  turned  out "  for  the  day's  work.  In  a  gang  of 
hands  employed  upon  a  roof  of  one  of  the  new  shopsf 
were  two  convicts,  who  often  cast  their  eyes  towards 
the  smoke  curling  from  the  cannon  on  the  mountain 
side.  They  had  learned  enough  to  divine  the  cause 
of  the  universal  commotion,  and  their  eagle  spirits 
chafed  as  they  heard  the  hum  of  voices  and  the  strains 
of  music.  The  large  national  banner  which  rolled 
and  swayed  from  the  staff  on  the  Square,  seemed  to 
taunt  them  with  its  graceful  movements  in  the  free 
air.  Who  of  the  throng  thought  of  them  in  their 
prison-house  ? 

The  two  prisoner's  were  Doctor  Howard  and  "Wal- 
ter Brayton !  The  sentence  of  the  latter  had  been 
commuted  to  imprisonment  for  life  on  the  strength  of 
the  direct  testimony  of  Halton  and  his  daughter. 


4:96  MINNIE   HEKMON. 

Towards  noon,  our  old  acquaintance,  the  revivalist, 
travel-worn  and  haggard,  though  smiling,  knocked  at 
the  warden's  door,  and  inquired  for  Howard  and 
Bray  ton. 

To  his  statement  that  he  had  taken  an  interest  in 
those  convicts  —  that  he  believed  them  to  be  no  com- 
mon criminals,  the  warden  sneeringly  blurted  out  an 
oath,  and  put  all  criminals  in  the  same  class  —  cold- 
hearted  and  relentless,  never  seeing  the  semblance 
of  humanity  in  the  wretch  that  has  committed  a  crime, 
and  boasting  of  his  cruelty,  as  though  it  were  an  ev- 
idence of  great  capacity  for  rule.  And  yet,  look  at 
the  physiognomy  of  the  man  !  the  small,  black,  hog 
eye ;  the  narrow  and  ill-shaped  brow ;  the  lisping 
tongue,  sounding  like  the  serpent's  hiss  ;  and  the  sen- 
sual lips,  which  grin  like  an  idiot's  when  the  man  at- 
tempts to  be  a  gentleman,  or  leer  like  a  devil's 
when  his  nature  glares  unrestrained  upon  his  repul- 
sive features.  He  has  no  more  idea  of  the  real  duties 
and  responsibilities  of  his  position  than  the  bull-dog 
in  his  kennel.  "Without  talents  to  govern  men  as  a 
man,  his  only  way  to  win  notoriety  is  to  be  a  brute 
and  beat  men  as  brutes.  We  are  not  mistaken  in  that 
face.  We  have  read  the  souls  of  more  cunning  men 
in  our  day,  and  we  can  decipher  the  language  written 
on  that  physiognomy  as  plainly  as  though  written  in 
English.  We  know  the  man's  whole  strength,  hia 
course  of  habits,  thoughts,  and  the  motives  which 
govern  his  action.  If  he  has  not  committed  a  state' 
prison  crime,  nature  has  written  false. 


GOOD   RESULTS.  497 

He  at  first  refused  to  call  the  two  convicts  from  the 
shops,  but  as  the  revivalist  showed  him  a  sealed  pa- 
per, his  countenance  changed  to  sickening  smiles,  and 
he  hastened  to  send  for  the  men.  They  entered  the 
office  with  a  mien  unbroken  by  their  degrading  po- 
sition—  paler  than  at  the  time  we  saw  them  last,  but 
erect  and  dignified,  as  in  their  best  days.  By  permis- 
sion of  the  now  obsequious  warden,  the  revivalist 
advanced,  and  without  a  word  of  explanation  or  in- 
troduction, handed  each  a  full  and  complete  pardon 
from  the  Governor  of  the  State  ! 

Howard  bowed  his  head  on  the  desk,  and  with  a 
sudden  and  convulsive  movement,  crushed  the  paper 
in  his  hand.  As  suddenly  he  raised  his  head  again, 
and  advanced  to  the  window,  as  if  to  make  sure  that 
he  had  read  aright.  Brayton  stood  motionless  and 
silent  for  a  moment,  perfectly  overwhelmed  with  the 
violence  of  his  emotions.  Then  his  lips  began  to 
quiver,  and  he  burst  into  a  sob  which  shook  his  strong 
frame  as  though  it  had  been  a  child's.  Howard  first 
attempted  to  speak. 

"  No,  no,  my  friends !  Though  I  am  a  stranger, 
you  once  befriended  me  in  a  dark  day.  I  have  now 
had  the  happiness  of  doing  you  both  a  kindness  in 
return.  I  wish  you,  as  a  favor  which  you  will  soon 
understand,  to  put  yourselves  under  my  direction 
this  day.  Let  us  go." 

The  convict  garb  was  soon  laid  off,  and  with  feel- 
ings which  cannot  be  written,  Howard  and  Brayton 
followed  their  stranger  friend  through  the  massive 


498  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

iron  gate,  nearly  sinking  with  the  intensity  of  their 
feelings,  as  it  crashed  back  to  its  place,  and  they 
stood  in  the  sunshine  of  the  wide,  free  world. 

The  church  was  overflowing.  Every  place  where 
a  foot  could  find  a  place  was  occupied,  and  out-doors 
the  sea  of  heads  reached  as  far  again.  The  roar  of 
the  cannon  and  the  music  of  the  choir  had  kept  the 
vast  assemblage  in  good  feeling  while  awaiting  the 
procession  of  the  Orders  and  the  arrival  of  the  speak- 
ers. Indeed,  almost  every  person  seemed  to  feel  well 
Skillott  had  taken  a  conspicuous  stand  upon  the  plat- 
form, the  sinister  smile  more  prominent  than  usual. 

From  one  of  the  open  windows  back  of  the  plat- 
form, the  speakers,  and  leading  temperance  men, 
clergymen,  &c.,  and  visitors,  came  in,  and  were  seat- 
ed on  the  platform.  "With  John  Gault,  Halton,  and 
others  of  the  old  veterans,  were  three  persons  closely 
muffled,  who  remained  so  during  the  exercises,  at- 
tracting much  notice  from  the  curious  thousands  as- 
sembled. 

We  cannot  describe  the  character  of  that  meeting ; 
it  were  a  profanation  to  attempt  it.  All  hearts  were 
full,  and  from  their  fullness  the  mouths  spake,  and 
with  a  three-times-three  that  mingled  proudly  with 
the  pealing  of  the  cannon,  the  people  adjourned  to 
the  Square,  where  glorious  things  were  to  be  wit- 
nessed. Skillott  volunteered  to  announce  his  devotion 
to  the  Maine  Law,  and  Dobbs  smiled  graciously,  bufi 
the  people  swept  out  andjiurried  to  the  Square. 


GOOD  RESULTS.  4:99 

In  the  middle  of  the  Square  were  a  number  of  bar- 
rels of  liquor,  seized  by  Marshal  Gaston  under  the 
new  law,  and  which  were  to  be  destroyed  that  day. 
Every  window  in  sight  of  the  place  was  filled  with 
heads,  and  surrounding  the  barrels  was  a  dark  mass 
of  eager  and  excited  people.  Overhead,  the  flag  of 
our  country  lifted  gracefully  on  the  winds. 

"With  a  smile  upon  his  countenance,  Gaston  seized 
his  sledge  which  he  had  brought  from  his  shop,  and 
was  about  to  strike  the  first  head  in,  when  the  revi- 
valist caught  his  hand  and  arrested  the  blow ;  and 
mounting  the  doomed  barrel,  he  said,  in  a  clear 
voice : 

"  Men  and  women  of  Oakvale !  -  I  will  not  long 
avert  a  blow  which  you  are  so  anxious  to  see  fall. 
As  the  accursed  destroyer  has  robbed  me  of  all  that 
loved  me,  I  shall  claim  of  our  good  friend  Gaston 
the  privilege  of  wielding  the  first  blow  of  this  right- 
eous enactment,  in  Oakvale.  Before  I  do  so,  howev- 
er, here,  before  assembled  thousands,  let  justice  bo 
done  to  those  who  have  been  wronged.  You  recol- 
lect Doctor  Howard  and  Walter  Bray  ton — two  as 
noble-hearted  men  as  ever  lived  among  you.  (Aye, 
aye,  murmured  the  crowd  ;  but  Skillott  frowned.)  I 
have  taken  this  occasion  to  have  their  good  names 
vindicated  from  every  stain,  and  have  the  proof  at 
hand.  The  consequences  may  be  unpleasant  to  some, 
and  grate  discordantly  upon  the  general  character 
of  the  exercises,  but  I  know  that  you  will  be  glad  to 


500  MINNIE   HERMON. 

see  innocent  men  dealt  justly  with  by  their  neigh- 
bors." 

"  Yes,  yes ;  that  we  will,"  was  answered  by  many 
voices,  amidst  intense  feeling  and  a  swaying  of  the   * 
crowd  as  the  people   attempted  to  get  nearer  tha 
speaker. 

"  Doctor  Howard  did  not  rob  Gerald  Bray  ton's  grave 
neither  did  Walter  Brayton  murder  Nye,  the  drover 
And  now  to  the  proof.  Here  are  two  witnesses  whom 
I  would  believe,  for  I  have  known  them  for  years, 
and  never  knew  them  to  lie." 

The  revivalist  then  leaped  from  the  barrel  and 
urged  the  two  closely  muffled  individuals  upon  the 
small  platform,  and  with  his  own  hands  lifted  off  their 
hats  and  threw  their  cloaks  from  their  shoulders. 

"  People  of  Oak  vale  !  Doctor  Howard  and  Walter 
Brayton  stand  before  you.  Let  any  man  say  that  he 
knows  aught  of  crime  against  them." 

The  crowd  swayed  like  a  deep  wave,  but  still  and 
breathless.  Skillott  turned  deadly  pale  as  he  recog- 
nized the  two  n\en,  but  quickly  recovered  his  outward 
coolness. 

"  Proof !  "  he  sneered.  "  This  is  a  pretty  pass. 
Convicts  breaking  prison,  and  relying  upon  a  Maine 
Law  excitement  to  keep  them  from  justice."  Howard 
and  Brayton  both  tried  to  catch  the  eye  of  the  Judge, 
but  in  vain. 

"  Judge  Skillott  speaks  of  breaking  prison,"  said 
the  reviv  alist,  again  mounting  the  liquor-cask.  "  I 


GOOD  RESULTS.  501 

will  read  the  plan  of  their  escape,"  producing  and 
reading  the  two  pardons.  "  But  he  asks  proof.  Let 
him  look  at  the  tall  man  who  has  just  dropped  his 
cloak  from  his  face." 

The  Hermit  stood  erect  and  calm  before  the  people 
—  his  full  eye  resting  upon  Skillott. 

"  Let  him  again  look  at  the  female  whom  Mr.  Bray 
ton  has  just  led  before  you  from  the  carriage  by  the 
flag- staff." 

Embarrassed,  but  still  beautiful  and  erect,  Minnie 
Hermon  stood  with  her  head  uncovered. 

"  God  has  blessed  our  endeavors  to  scent  out  wrong, 
and  here  is  proof  which  will  be  used  to  clear  the  in- 
nocent and  convict  the  guilty.  Friends,  Walter 
Brayton  will  speak." 

Pale  from  long  confinement,  Walter  stood  up,  and 
in  a  voice  which  had  lost  none  of  its  wondrous  depth 
and  power,  said,  in  substance  : 

"  Friends !  I  will  not  attempt  to  speak  what  is  this 
day  in  my  heart.  You  know  me  and  my  history.  I 
have  been  deeply  wronged,  as,  I  thank  God,  I  shall  be 
able  to  show.  By  the  influence  of  enemies,  I  was 
induced  to  wrong  another.  Before  God  and  this  as- 
semblage, I  will  make  all  the  amends  it  is  mine  to  do, 
though  not  worthy  of  the  privilege." 

The  revivalist  then  asked  if  there  were  any  who 
knew  why  Walter  Brayton  and  Minnie  Hermon 
should  not  be  united  in  the  holy  bands  of  marriage  ? 
There  was  no  response,  and  he  proceeded  to  pronounce 
them  man  and  wife,  and  then  put  up  a  prayer  which 


502  MINNIE   HERHON. 

was  full  of  the  dark  night  past  and  the  promising 
morning  of  a  better  future. 

"And  now,  men  and  women  of  Oakvale,  James 
Ricks  strikes  the  first  blow  !  "  at  the  same  time  spring- 
ing to  the  ground  and  bringing  the  sledge  down  upon 
the  barrel  he  had  stood  upon,  knocking  in  the  head. 

"  Depart,  ye  cursed,  to  the  place  prepared  for  you/' 
fiercely  shouted  the  Hermit,  as  he  seized  the  weapon 
and  with  a  powerful  sweep  crushed  through  a  head 
at  every  blow. 

"  Old  Barney  Kitts  has  turned  spirit-rapper,"  said 
that  old  toper,  now  cleanly  dressed,  although  it  took 
three  of  his  feebler  strokes  to  let  the  spirits  out. 

The  cannon  pealed  from  up  the  mountain,  the  bells 
rang  out  a  merry  chime,  and  the  crowd,  no  longer 
able  to  control  their  enthusiasm,  shouted  until  their 
voices  well-nigh  drowned  the  roar  of  the  cannon ;  and 
putting  Ricks,  Howard,  Brayton  and  Minnie,  Gault, 
Halton,  and  the  Hermit  into  the  wagon,  to  the  music 
of  the  band  and  deafening  hurrahs,  escorted  them 
through  the  principal  streets.  As  the  sun  faded  out, 
fire  was  set  to  the  liquor,  still  in  pools  and  in  the  bro- 
ken barrels,  the  flames  leaping  and  writhing  like  red 
sarpents,  as  they  shot  upward  towards  the  sky. 

"  Too  late  !  too  late !  Oh,  if  this  had  been  done 
years  ago,  I  should  not  have  been  robbed  of  my  boy," 
murmured  old  Mrs.  "Weston,  and  she  wept  as  she  sat 
in  her  door  and  watched  the  flashing  flame. 

That  evening,  as  Skillott  was  sitting  in  his  office, 
buried  in  deep  thought,  he  was  startled  by  a  loud  rap 


GOOD   RESULTS.  503 

on  the  door.  The  door  was  locked  ;  but  he  sprang 
from  his  chair  and  turned  deadly  pale.  Seizing  a 
bundle  of  papers  which  lay  on  the  table,  and  thrust- 
ing them  into  his  pocket,  he  hastened  through  the 
house  into  the  back  yard.  As  he  leaped  the  fence 
and  stood  by  the  river  bank,  he  encountered  the  one 
whom,  of  all  others,  he  most  dreaded. 

"  Leaving  these  parts,  eh  ?  You  saw  me  off  once, 
and  I  thought  I  would  return  the  compliment.  Are 
there  not  more  murderers  to  try,  Judge  ?  TJiey  are 
not  all  hung  yet  !  —  ha,  ha  !  " 

The  Hermit  sat  in  the  boat  which  Skillott  had 
provided  for  an  escape.  The  latter  drew  his  pistol ; 
but  a  strong  grasp  from  behind  caught  the  arm,  and 
the  ball  struck  the  water  far  beyond  the  boat. 

"  Not  so  good  a  marksman  as  when  you  tried  me 
before  with  ball !  Hand  a  little  unsteady,  perhaps. 
Gerald  Brayton's  was  when  he  signed  the  will ! " 
chuckled  the  Hermit  as  he  leaped  ashore  and  assisted 
Sheriff  Gaston  in  placing  the  prisoner  in  irons.  "  Been 
waiting  for  you  some  time.  Jud  Lane  will  be  glad 
to  see  you  at  the  jail.  Your  friend,  Mr.  Hermon,  has 
left  without  so  much  as  bidding  us  good  bye." 

The  Hermit  had  dogged  Skillott's  footsteps,  and 
from  his  hiding-place  watched  the  arrangements  for 
escape,  and  listened  to  the  plans  of  Skillott  and  Lane. 
Hermon  had  not  waited  for  darkness,  but  during  the 
scene  upon  the  Square  had  slipped  away  and  made 
good  his  escape.  From  a  manuscript  we  gather  some 
of  the  incidents  which  followed  : 
21 


ft  04  MINNIE    BLERMON. 

"  OAKVALE,  Aug.  5,  18 — . 
DOCTOR  HOWARD: — 

""We  think  and  talk  of  you  often,  and  miss  you 
much,  but  do  not  wonder  that  you  do  not  wish  to  re- 
side in  Oakvale,  for  the  associations  are  sad  indeed 
I  was  at  poor  Mary's  grave  to-day,  and  thought  of  all 
the  past.  I  go  there  often  and  tend  the  flowers  with 
a  watchful  care.  I  loved  her,  for  she  was  a  kind  and 
true  friend  to  me  in  the  dark  days.  And  she  lives 
not  on  earth  to  witness  the  dawning  of  a  better  day  I 

"  You  have  probably  heard  ere  this,  that  Skillott 
committed  suicide  in  the  jail  on  the  day  before  ho 
was  to  have  been  executed.  Jud  Lane  was  hung,  after 
making  a  full  confession  of  his  crimes. 

"  I  have  been  sad  to-day,  and  have  wept  much. 
Last  night  a  poor  looking  old  beggar  called  at  our 
door,  and  in  God's  name  plead  for  food  and  rest. 
Neither  Walter  nor  myself  could  refuse  the  appeal, 
and  therefore  we  took  him  in.  This  morning  he  died, 
after  putting  his  fleshless  arms  around  my  neck  and 
asking  my  forgiveness.  The  poor,  wandering  beggar 
was  the  once  proud  and  honorable  John  Hermon,  my 
father  !  How  different  would  have  been  his  end  but 
for  rum !  As  the  Widow  Weston  says,  the  law  camo 

too  late So  you  perceive  that  there  are 

shadows  yet  flitting  here  and  there  in  my  sky. 

"  You  will  remember  the  Hermit,  and  how  strange- 
ly he  disappeared  while  you  were  under  arrest.  He 
was  kidnapped  by  Skiilott  and  Lane  after  being  shot 


GOOD  RESULTS.  505 

in  the  shoulder.  But  you  were  made  acquainted  with 
all  the  facts  of  his  disappearance,  imprisonment  in  the 
Ledge,  and  release  by  Ricks.  You  may  not  know, 
however,  that  he  and  '  Crazy  Alf '  are  the  same,  and 
that  he  is  a  son  of  Elder  Snyder,  and  an  uncle  of 
mine  !  He  had  traced  father  to  this  place,  and  after 
his  reform,  became  impressed  with  the  belief  that  he 
was  an  instrument  selected  to  punish  his  sister's  hus- 
band—  my  father  —  for  his  cruelty  to  her.  He  is 
with  us  now,  meek,  kind,  and  gentle  to  all,  though  a 
word  about  rum  will  arouse  him  to  the  fiercest  wild- 
ness.  It  would  do  you  good  to  see  him  '  smite  '  the 
liquor  barrels  wherever  they  are  found.  He  spends 
much  of  his  time  by  the  grave  of  his  mother.  He 
still  persists  in  carrying  his  long  staff,  and  in  wearing 
his  beard. 

"  Bless  God  for  the  Maine  Law !  It  has  filled  the 
land  with  gladness  and  joy,  and  there  is  rejoicing  ev- 
erywhere. You  can  hardly  conceive  the  change  it 
has  wrought  in  Oakvale.  No  drunkenness  is  seen, 
and  seldom  a  case  of  suffering  from  poverty  or  want. 
Pauperism  has  almost  entirely  disappeared,  and  the 
jail  is  empty,  save  now  and  then  a  prisoner,  who  may 
have  been  convicted  of  selling  rum.  Walter  tells  me 
that  there  is  but  little  business  in  the  courts.  I  look 
down  where  the  babe  is  slumbering  in  the  cradle,  and 
tears  of  great  gladness  come  freely  from  a  full  heart, 
and  I  audibly  thank  God.  My  boy,  if  he  lives,  will 
not  be  exposed  to  the  sweep  of  the  dark  stream  that 


506  MINNIE    HEEMON. 

has  wrecked  so  many  of  my  hopes  in  other  dajs. 
Walter  has  recovered  his  father's  property  from  Skil- 
lott,  and  with  this,  added  to  the  avails  of  his  practice, 
we  are  surrounded  with  comfort.  We  are  happy,  yet 
do  not  forget  your  own  broken  home.  .  .  . 

"Sid  Lane  was  recently  sentenced  to  the  state  pris- 
on for  a  long  career  of  body-snatching.  It  appears 
strange  that  the  infatuated  populace  should  have  so 
injured  you  and  yours  for  being  suspected  of  such  a 
crime,  while  they  supported  the  business  of  selling 
rum  — strange  to  license  men  to  destroy  the  living, 
and  imprison  men  for  robbing  the  dead  !  It  is  cer- 
tainly worse  to  rob  the  heart  and  the  home,  than  the 
grave. 

"  Hon.  Mr.  Fenton  was  here  yesterday.  He  was 
surprised  to  find  that  we  had  but  just  commenced 
the  married  life.  He  had  gotten  the  impression  that 
Walter  was  the  one  who  turned  his  family  out  of 
doors  to  freeze.  We  were  happy  to  undeceive  him. 

"Mr.  Hudson  —  you  have  not  forgotten  Mortimer 
Hudson,  the  elder —  is  well,  and  his  home  is  as  happy 
as  it  can  well  be.  He  and  Ricks  are  much  together  in 
works  of  goodness.  The  latter  lingers  and  weeps  like 
a  child  by  the  graves  of  his  family.  He  was  arrested 
at  the  instigation  of  Sid  Lane,  and  tried  for  an  as- 
sault with  intent  to  kill  the  latter,  in  the  rescue  of  Al- 
fred Snyder  ;  but  Alfred  testified  to  the  facts,  and  he 
was  acquitted.  I  believe  I  have  detailed  the  princi- 
pal facts  you  would  be  glad  to  hear,  though  you  will 
be  glad  to  learn  that  Deacon  McGarr  has  become  a 


GOOD   EE3ULT8.  507 

sober  and  industrious  man,  and  that  old  Barney  Kitts 
lives  like  a  king. 

"Yes,  my  dear  friend,  we  are  happy  in  the  light  of 
this  new  day.  Walter  has  just  come  in  and  lifted 
fie  my  — (we  have  named  our  habe  Henry  Howard} — 
from  his  cradle,  and  Alfred  and  Ricks  are  conversing 
in  low  tones  in  the  verandah.  The  sun  has  crept  up 
and  flooded  the  sheet,  on  which  I  am  writing,  with 
golden  light,  and  the  heart  reflects  it  from  its  un- 
clouded depths.  A  long,  dark  night  has  passed  away ; 
and  with  the  most  profound  gratitude  to  God,  we 
look  forward  to  greet  the  FULL  MOENING  OF  A  BEIGHT- 

KE,    BETTEE   DAY! 

"  Walter  says  that  you  may  look  for  us  in  October, 
in  your  western  hiding-place. 

"  Till  then,  adieu  ! 

"  MINNIE  BEAYTON." 

We  will  not  detain  the  reader  longer,  though  the 
subsequent  history  of  our  principal  characters  (and 
they  are  now  living)  might  be  interesting. 

Alfred  Snyder  was  driven  from  his  home  by  the 
"  iron  rule,"  and  became  reckless  and  abandoned  for 
many  years.  He  found,  on  his  return,  that  his  moth- 
er had  died  ;  and  after  drinking  deeper  than  before, 
he  suddenly  formed  the  resolution  to  drink  no  more. 
His  enthusiastic  nature  assumed  the  phase  of  religious 
zeal,  and  he  became  a  firm  believer  in  his  Heaven-di- 
rected mission  against  the  rum  traffic.  The  same 
"  iron  rule  "  had  driven  an  only  daughter  from  home 


508  MINNIE   HERMON. 

because  she  married  Hermon,  then  a  worthy  youug 
man,  but  belonging  to  another  denomination.  The 
Elder  is  a  lonely  old  man,  unloved  and  shunned  by 
all,  and  cannot  obtain  hearers  even,  when  speaking 
against  the  Temperance  Reform. 

Alfred  was  kidnapped  and  imprisoned  in  the  fast- 
nesses of  one  of  the  counties  of  Northern  Pennsylva- 
nia. He  owed  his  life  to  the  fact  that  Skillott  had 
learned  that  he  had  become  an  heir  to  a  large  proper- 
ty, and  it  was  determined  to  frighte.  him  into  a  sur- 
render of  the  claim. 

Howard  is  a  man  of  sorrow ;  for  he  does  not  forget 
the  loss  of  his  accomplished  wife.  Save  now  and 
then  a  shadow  which  flits  from  the  past,  Minnie  and 
Walter  are  happy.  Their  deeds  are  the  best  record 
of  their  goodness  and  their  standing  in  the  commu 
nity  where  they  live. 

Old  Mrs.  Weston  lives  to  rejoice  over  the  Reforma- 
tion. Its  advent  could  not  restore  her  son  to  her  old 
heart,  but  it  wiE  save  other  sons  who  are  loved  as  she 
loved  hers. 


MISS   BRAYTON    DEVOTED    TO    THE    CAUSE. 


CHAPTEK  XXXVI. 

THE  JOV  i  >F  DOING  GOOD MINNIE  AND  WALTER  BE- 
COME INTERESTED  IN  TiiE  GOOD  TEMPLAR  MOVE- 
MENT—  WALTER  MADE  GRAND  WORTHY  TEMPLAR. 

SHADOW  and  sunshine,  are  set  over  against  each 
other  in  this  life ;  and  whether  we  are  living  in  the 
gloom  of  an  obscured  sky,  or  in  the  brightness  of  an 
unclouded  firmament,  the  days,  months,  and  years 
roll  on,  and,  ere  we  are  aware,  we  find  ourselves  past 
the  noontide  of  life  and  our  faces  toward  the  setting 
sun.  Happy  is  it  for  us,  when  the  threads  of  silver 
begin  to  show  themselves  in  the  dark  tresses  that 
have  adorned  our  temples,  if  we  can  look  back  on  a 
life  of  usefulness,  activity,  and  kindly  deeds  toward 
our  fellows.  The  joy  of  doing  good  will  efface  from 
our  memory  the  sorrows  and  woes  of  earlier  days,  or 
leave  with  their  remembrance  that  hallowed  and 
chastened  sorrow  which  is  compatible  with  the  deep- 
est and  purest  enjoyment,  or,  as  Moore  has  so  beauti- 
fully sung — 

"  E'en  sorrow,  touched  by  thee,  grows  bright 

With  more  than  rapture's  ray; 
As  darkness  shows  us  worlds  of  light 
We  never  saw  by  day." 


512  MESTNIE    HEEMON. 

Such  had  been  the  experience  of  our  friends,  Wab 
ter  and  Minnie  Brayton.  Some  years  after  the  events^ 
related  in  the  preceding  chapter,  they  had  removed  to 
the  vicinity  of  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  and  in  a  pleasant 
rural  home  they  were  striving  to  rear  up  their  family 
in  the  fear  of  God  and  the  practice  of  all  Christian 
virtues.  Walter  was  now  a  man  of  influence,  and, 
though  not  affluent,  was  yet  the  owner  of  a  good 
estate.  He  was  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  Church, 
and  bore  a  high  reputation  for  piety  and  earnest 
Christian  character.  Minnie,  now  known  only  as  Mrs. 
Brayton,  except  to  her  husband,  who  could  never  be 
satisfied  with  any  other  than  the  pet  name  by  which 
he  had  known  her  in  girlhood,  was  a  rather  grave, 
matronly  lady ;  but  the  occasional  cheery  laugh,  and 
the  bright  twinkle  of  her  yet  beautiful  eyes,  showed 
that  the  sorrows  of  her  youth  had  not  drowned  all 
her  natural  joyousness,  and  that  she  did  not  consider 
it  necessary  to  be  gloomy  in  order  to  be  good.  Five 
children  surrounded  the  family  board — olive-plants 
their  father  called  them,  though  their  complexions 
had  very  little  of  the  olive  tint.  Of  these,  the  oldest, 
Henry  Howard  Brayton,  who  has  already  been  intro- 
duced, is  now  a  fine,  stalwart  young  man  of  twenty- 
two,  intelligent  and  cultured,  and  is  soon  to  enter  the 
ministry,  for  which  he  has  been  preparing  for  some 
years.  Ida  Maria,  who  comes  next,  is  a  young  lady  now 
in  her  twentieth  year — a  brave,  generous-hearted  girl, 
with  all  her  mother's  early  enthusiasm,  and  uniting 
to  deep  piety  a  well-trained  mind  and  a  joyous,  buoy- 
ant spirit.  She  has  had  the  advantage  of  a  full 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  513 

course  of  training  in  the  Elmira  Female  College, 
where  she  had  for  an  intimate  friend  and  room-mate 
Carrie  Hudson,  the  only  daughter  of  our  old  friend, 
Mortimer  Hudson,  Jr. ;  a  young  lady  of  excellent 
mind  and  heart. 

Freddie,  who  is  the  next  in  age,  is  an  active  and 
amiable  boy  of  sixteen,  who  spends  his  winters  in 
school,  but,  having  a  great  love  for  farming  life,  is 
becoming  a  valuable  helper  of  his  father  on  the  farm. 
Nellie,  just  turned  of  thirteen,  and  Wee  Willie,  the 
baby,  though  now  eight  years  old,  and  rejoicing  in 
boots,  which  he  wears  over  his  trousers,  make  up  the 
household  circle.  It  had  been  one  object  with  Wal- 
ter Brayton,  in  removing  to  Ohio,  to  separate  himself 
and  his  interesting  family  as  far  as  possible  from  all 
association  with  persons  and  scenes  which  were  con- 
stantly reminding  him  and  his  wife  of  the  sorrowful 
scenes  through  which  they  had  passed.  Over  and 
over  again  there  came  up  the  remembrance  of  those 
dreadful  hours  in  prison ;  of  the  ruin  which  the  rum- 
fiend  had  wrought  among  those  nearest  and  dearest 
to  them ;  of  the  violent  death  of  Walter's  father,  and 
the  distressing  close  of  Mr.  Hermon's  career ;  and  of 
the  narrow  escape  which  Walter  Jiimself  had  had 
from  becoming  as  degraded  a  drunkard  as  any  of  the 
rest.  There  would  come  over  them  both  at  times, 
also,  the  terrible  fear  lest  the  inherited  appetite  for 
drink  which,  as  is  well  known,  so  often  skips  over 
one  generation  to  make  itself  felt  witli  greater  power 
in  the  next,  should  re-appear  in  their  children. 

The  reminiscences  of  tue  pa^t.  which  thus  made  life 


514  MINNIE    HEEMON. 

bitter,  could  have  been  endured  with  more  patience, 
had  there  been  in  Oakvale  any  considerable  measure 
of  permanent  improvement  in  the  matter  of  temper- 
ance. But,  as  has  been  the  case  in  many  other  places, 
the  reformation  was  spasmodic  in  its  character;  now 
advancing  apparently  with  rapid  strides,  and  then 
receding  almost  to  the  low-watermark  of  the  old 
times.  The  Sons  of  Temperance  had,  as  we  have 
seen,  made  considerable  progress,  and  had  secured 
many  members  to  their  Order;  and  the  passage  of 
the  Maine  Law,  while  they  were  in  the  height  of 
their  popularity,  had  produced  for  a  time  grand 
results.  But,  unfortunately,  these  were  not  enduring ; 
the  novelty  wore  off,  and  enthusiasm  in  regard  to 
the  Order,  gave  place  to  ndifference,  until  very 
many  of  the  Sons  of  Temperance  became  rather 
Sons  of  Intemperance — seven-tenths  of  them,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Chambers'  statement,  having  broken  the 
pledge.  The  Maine  Law  was  not  enforced,  and  it 
was  claimed  could  not  be,  in  the  larger  towns,  and 
the  friends  of  Temperance  having  grown  cold  in 
their  zeal,  the  law  was  repealed  after  four  or  five 
years  of  trial.  It  was  inexpressibly  painful  to  Wal- 
ter Brayton  and  his  wife  to  see  those  "breathing 
holes  of  hell,"  as  Dr.  Lyman  Beecher  so  forcibly 
described  them,  again  open  and  sending  out  the 
fumes  of  these  poisonous  liquors,  to  draw  unwary 
souls  down  to  destruction.  So  long  as  it  was  possi- 
ble to  enforce  the  law  and  keep  them  closed,  Walter 
was  indefatigable  in  his  efforts  to  prevent  this  traffic 
in  souls ;  but  when  this  became  impossible,  in  conse- 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  515 

quence  of  the  repeal  of  the  Maine  Law,  he  felt  almost 
disheartened.  There  was,  however,  one  organiza- 
tion from  which,  for  a  time,  he  entertained  some 
hopes  of  good.  It  was  the  Independent  Order  of 
Good  Templars,  like  the  Sons  of  Temperance  a 
secret  order,  but  admitting  both  sexes  to  membership. 
Originating  in  Onondaga  County,  N.  Y.,  in  1852,  it 
had  spread  at  first  slowly,  and  afterward  more  rapidly 
into  other  States  and  Territories,  and  into  the  pro- 
vinces of  British  America.  Its  imposing  ritual,  and 
the  energy  with  which  it  was  pushed,  as  well  as  its 
features  of  female  membership,  and  its  permission  of 
official  position  to  its  lady-members,  gave  it  a  high 
degree  of  popularity  for  a  time,  and  it  seemed  to  bid 
fair  to  be  a  powerful  agency  for  the  overthrow  of 
intemperance.  Its  history,  however,  proved  to  be 
one  of  great  fluctuations.  There  were  noble,  ear- 
nest spirits  engaged  in  it,  but  there  were  also,  as  is 
so  often  the  case  in  secret  organizations,  many  who 
were  only  attracted  to  it  as  something  new,  and  who 
either  imperiled  the  subordinate  Ledges  wuth  which 
they  were  connected  by  their  jealousies  and  rivalries, 
or,  becoming  indifferent  as  soon  as  the  novelty  wore 
off,  abandoned  alike  their  obligations  and  their  mem- 
bership. This  was  particularly  the  case  in  New 
York,  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.  In  the  first  named 
State  there  was  a  membership  in  1854  of  21,000,  but 
four  years  later  there  was  but  a  single  lodge  in  exist- 
ence, and  this  had  but  a  handful  of  members.  It 
subsequently  regained  more  than  its  first  prosperity, 
and  has  now  nearly  100,000  members  in  that  State. 


516 


MINNIE    IIEHMON. 


Walter  Brayton  had  joined  it  as  soon  as  oppor- 
tunity offered,  and  had  been  Grand  Worthy  Templar 
of  the  Lodge  in  Oakvale;  he  had  also  brought  his 
children  into  it  as  soon  as  they  were  of  sufficient  age 
to  comprehend  its  obligations.  But  when  all  interest 
seemed  to  be  lost  by  the  members,  and  it  was  impos- 
sible to  bring  together  a  quorum  at  the  appointed 
Lodge  meetings,  and  a  similar  state  of  things  existed 
throughout  the  State,  while,  under  the  excitement  of 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  thousands  of  pledged  Good 
Templars  forgot  their  vows,  plunging  into  intoxica- 
tion without  hesitation  or  apparent  consciousness  of 
wrong,  he  felt  that  this  measure,  like  the  previous 
ones  for  subduing  this  giant  evil,  was  of  no  avail,  and 
the  old  dread  of  a  renewal  of  the  scenes  of  the  past, 
and  those  painful  apprehensions  for  the  future  of  hig 
children,  if  they  remained  in  Oakvale  or  its  vicinity, 
were  renewed  with  such  intensity  as  to  make  both. 
Walter  and  his  wife  at  times  exceedingly  wretched. 

O  «/ 

Often  did  they  consult  together  in  regard  to  the  best 
course  to  adopt  to  avoid  the  evils  and  sorrows  whoso 
dark  wings  seemed  already  to  overshadow  them. 
Thus  far  their  children  had  never  had  the  slightesl 
intimation  of  the  wretchedness  and  agony  of  the  early 
life  of  their  parents,  and  they  hoped  almost  against 
hope  to  keep  from  them  all  knowledge  of  the  bitter 
past. 

The  hope  was  vain ;  it  was  now  the  second  year 
of  the  war,  when  one  Wednesday  morning,  Harry,  a 
bright,  manly,  interesting  boy  of  ten  years  old,  had, 
as  usual,  been  to  school,  but  came  running  home,  and 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  517 

rushing  to  his  mother,  the  tears  rolling  down  hia 
cheeks,  sobbed  out,  "  Oh,  mother !  it  isn't  true,  is  it  ? 
Jerry  Lane  got  mad  at  me  to-day,  and  he  said — he 
said,  'You  needn't  feel  so  big,  Hal  Brayton,  your 
old  granddad  was  a  drunken  old  scamp,  and  he 
helped  murder  a  man — so  there.'  I  told  him  that 
was  a  lie,  but  he  said  it  was  true,  and  everybody  here 
knew  it.  Oh,  mother !  tell  me  that  it  isn't  true — I 
can't  go  to  school  any  more,  if  it  is !" 

Poor  Minnie!  her  cup  was  full  to  overflowing. 
She  managed  to  evade  any  direct  reply  to  Harry's 
appeal,  and  rushed  to  her  room,  where  soon  after 
"Walter  found  her  in  a  perfect  agony  of  tears.  "  Oh, 
Walter,"  she  said,  so  soon  as  she  could  command  her 
feelings  sufficiently  to  speak,  "  we  cannot  stay  here. 
We  must  remove  to  some  place  far  enough  from  this 
point  to  prevent  our  children  from  being  taunted 
with  these  horrible  crimes  and  sorrows  of  the  past. 
Let  us  go  anywhere,  and  at  any  sacrifice,  to  blot  out 
these  dreadful  memories.  In  another  State,  where 
we  shall  be  among  strangers,  we  may  be  happy,  and 
our  children  never  know  such  anguish  as  we  have 
experienced." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

rWENTY  TEAKS    LATER REMOVAL    OF    MINNIE   AN. 

WALTER  TO  OHIO THE  PREVALENCE  OF  INTEMPER- 
ANCE  THERE — HOW  IS    IT   TO  BE   RESISTED? THE 

WOMEN'S  CRUSADE — IDA'S  LETTER  TO  CARRIE  HUDSON, 

WALTER  was  very  willing  to  follow  suggestions  so 
evidently  judicious;  and,  after  some  inquiry,  they 
fixed  upon  the  Ohio  village,  where  we  now  find  them, 
as  their  future  home. 

The  village  had,  on  their  first  removal  thither,  but 
a  small  population,  and  these  largely  farmers ;  but  a 
branch  railway  from  the  Marietta  road  to  Hillsboro 
was  soon  constructed,  and  they  were  put  in  direct 
communication  with  Cincinnati.  The  growth  of  the 
village  now  became  rapid,  and  it  was  soon  reckoned 
as  a  part  of  Hillsboro,  in  which  township  it  lay. 
Like  many  of  the  farming  towns  of  Ohio,  corn  and 
rye  were  the  principal  crops,  and  with  too  many  of 
the  farmers  the  temptation  to  sell  their  grain  to  the 
distillers  was  too  strong  to  be  resisted.  Against  this, 
Walter  Brayton  had  maintained  a  firm  and  steady 
opposition.  He  had  seen  too  much  of  the  horrible 
results  of  the  liquor  traffic  to  be  willing  to  aid  in  any 
way  in  the  production  of  the  vile  liquid.  At  first, 
and  for  some  years,  his  course  brought  upon  him 
the  enmity  of  his  neighbors,  who  had  no  scruples  in 
turning  wholesome  grain  into  a  virulent  poison.  He 
was  called  a  Pharisee,  and  several  times  threatened 
for  his  manly  and  consistent  course.  But  as  time 
passed,  and  the  f firms  of  these  men  grew  poorer  each 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  519 

year,  and  their  sons  became  addicted  to  drink,  the 
wiser  and  more  prudent  citizens  began  to  see  that  his 
course  was  the  true  one,  and  he  stood  higher  in  their 
esteem  than  any  other  man  in  the  town. 

But  there  came  to  him  and  his  estimable  wife  at 
this  time  the  renewal  of  their  old  fears,  from  the 
rapid  spread  of  intemperance  in  Hillsboro  and  the 
adjacent  towns.  Their  own  children  were  indeed 
spared  thus  far  from  the  appetite  for  liquor.  Harry 
was  a  young  man  of  exemplary  life,  and  of  remark- 
ably pure  and  devoted  piety ;  and  Freddie  manifested 
no  taste  for  liquor,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the 
Good  Templars  ever  since  he  was  old  enough  to  be 
received  into  the  order.  Ida  and  Nellie  were  equally 
free  from  any  desire  for  strong  drink  in  any  form. 
Relatives  they  had  none  in  that  region ;  and,  except 
an  occasional  visit  from  Dr.  Howard  and  Alfred 
Snyder,  Minnie's  uncle — now  no  longer  called  "  Crazy 
Alf ,"  but  an  active,  stern,  and  somewhat  sad-visaged 
temperance  reformer — they  had  no  communication 
with  Oakvale  or  its  vicinity. 

Why,  then,  should  they  feel  so  deeply  and  keenly 
anxious  in  regard  to  the  spread  of  intemperance 
around  them  ?  It  was  because  they  had  themselves 
experienced  so  much  sorrow  from  it.  The  iron  had 
entered  their  own  souls  ;  and,  as  they  saw  young  men 
of  great  promise  lured  to  drink  the  intoxicating  cup, 
and  young  women,  full  of  gayety,  life  and  animation, 
offering  it  to  their  brothers  and  lovers,  they  looked 
back  shudderingly  to  the  fearful  scenes  they  had  wit- 
nessed, and  felt  that  something  must  be  done  to  save 


520  MINNIE    HERMON. 

these  young  men  from  a  drunkard's  grave  and  a 
drunkard's  eternity.  What  was  the  best  and  wisest 
step  to  take  ?  How  could  they  most  effectually  reach 
and  save  those  who  were  thus  being  led,  blindfolded, 
to  destruction  ? 

"  I  have  been  talking  with  our  pastor  and  the  ses- 
sion, to-day,  about  the  terrible  spread  of  intemper- 
ance," said  Walter  one  day  to  his  wife,  on  his  return 
from  Hillsboro,  "  but  I  cannot  make  them  see  it  as  I 
do.  Our  pastor  proposed  to  have  a  day  of  fasting 
and  prayer  especially  for  the  reformation  of  moderate 
drinkers  and  drunkards,  and  he  was  right ;  but  Elder 

and  Deacon ,  both  of  whom  have  sons  who 

are  going  to  destruction  as  fast  as  they  can,  couldn't 
see  any  use  in  it.  They  thought  young  people  would 
be  gay  and  lively,  but  they  didn't  see  any  harm  in  it. 
I  told  them  that  there  was  no  safety  for  any  man 
who  took  a  drop  of  the  -vile  stuff ;  but  they  only 
laughed,  and  said  '  Brother  Brayton  is  a  little  fanat 
ical.'  Oh !  I  wish  I  could  make  them  see  the  hor- 
rors that  are  sure  to  come  to  their  own  homes,  if  their 
sons  keep  on  drinking.  They  would  wake  up  then, 
and  their  hair  would  stand  on  end  with  fright ! " 

"  I  think,"  said  Mrs.  Brayton,  "  that  there  is  but 
one  resource  for  us  just  now,  and  that  is  in  earnest 
and  persistent  prayer ;  prayer  that  God  will  convert 
our  Legislature,  and  make  them  willing  to  enact 
laws  by  which  this  traffic  can  be  prevented ;  prayer 
for  the  rum-sellers  and  dealers  in  intoxicating  drinks, 
that  they  may  be  compelled  by  their  own  consciences 
and  the  pressure  of  public  sentiment  to  give  up  the 


THE  WOMEN'S  CKUSADE.  521 

business  •  prayer  for  these  careless  and  over-indulgent 
fathers  und  mothers,  that  they  may  see  the  dreadful 
results  of  their  indifference;  and  especially  prayer 
for  the  young,  that  they  may  be  delivered  from 
temptation." 

"  You  are  right,  my  dear  Minnie,"  replied  her  hus- 
band ;  "  and  I  believe  that  you  and  some  of  our  other 
good  sisters  have  been  praying  for  the  Legislature  to 
some  purpose  already,  for  I  heard  to-day  that  the 
Adair  bill,  which,  you  know,  is  for  a  local  option  law 
that  will  enable  us  to  close  up  the  grog-shops  if  we 
can  get  public  opinion  roused,  is  likely  to  pass." 

"  There  will  be  more  need  of  praying  than  ever  in 
that  case,"  was  Mrs.  Brayton's  reply.  "  There  will 
be  no  necessity  for  resorting  to  force  if  we  can  only 
reach  the  hearts  of  the  rum-sellers  by  the  power  of 
faith  and  love." 

"  But,  my  dear,"  said  Walter,  "  are  you  not  reckon- 
ing too  much  on  the  power  of  faith  and  love,  in  ex- 
pecting that  the  hearts  of  rum-sellers  can  be  moved 
by  anything  short  of  force?  Whyj  most  of  them 
have  no  conscience  and  no  feeling  :  they  will  never 
give  up  their  vile  traffic  unless  they  are  compelled  to 
do  so  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  law." 

.  "  Dear  Walter,"  said  Mrs.  Brayton,  with  the  tears 
glistening  in  her  eyes,  "  have  you  forgotten  that  faith 
can  remove  mountains  ? — that  the  prayer  of  faith 
moves  the  hand  that  moves  the  world  ?  Have  you 
forgotten — but,  no  !  neither  you  nor  I  can  ever  for- 
get, what  faith  and  prayer  did  for  us.  God  can 
move  the  hearts  of  these  poor,  sinful  wretches,  who 


522  MINNIE    HERMON. 

are  dealing  out  death  just  as  easily  as  He  has  moved 
upon  other  hearts  in  the  past." 

"  "Well,"  said  Walter,  "  I  think  you  are  right ;  and 
if  there  are  more  women  with  as  much  faith  as  you 
have,  you  had  better  have  a  prayer-meeting  of  the 
women  of  Hillsboro,  to  try  the  effect  of  prayer  on 
these  hardened  rum-sellers.  I  think  there  are  some 
of  the  men  in  the  different  churches  who  will  be 
willing  to  unite  in  praying  for  you,  while  you  have 
your  meeting,  and  in  sustaining  you  in  your  further 
efforts,  should  you  need  their  help." 

"Walter  was  thoroughly  in  earnest  in  this  move- 
ment, and  he  saw  that  his  wife  was  equally  so.  He 
called  upon  a  number  of  the  most  devoted  and  ear- 
nest men  in  the  different  congregations  in  Hillsboro, 
and  his  wife  did  the  same  among  the  ladies,  and  the 
next  week  it  was  announced  that  there  would  be  a 
ladies'  prayer-meeting  at  one  of  the  churches  on 
Wednesday  of  the  following  week,  to  pray  especially 
for  the  overthrow  of  intemperance,  and  that,  at  the 
same  time,  there  would  be  a  meeting  in  another 
church  of  Christian  men,  to  pray  for  Grod's  guidance 
of  the  women  in  their  efforts  to  overthrow  this  great 
evil.  The  notices  were  given  in  all  the  churches,  and 
the  matter  was  discussed  throughout  the  town.  To 
the  surprise  of  many,  both  meetings  were  largely  at- 
tended ;  and  such  was  the  influence  which  pervaded 
them,  that  even  the  rum-sellers  began  to  talk  with 
bated  breath  about  the  prospects  of  a  temperance  re- 
vival. The  women's  meeting,  at  which  Mrs.  Bray- 
lon  presided,  was  quiet  and  orderly,  but  was  marked 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  523 

by  deep  feeling,  and  its  key-note  seemed  to  have  been 
struck  when  Mrs.  Brayton,  in  a  few  thoughtful,  well- 
considered  words,  said  "that  the  object  for  which 
they  were  especially  called  to  pray  at  this  time  was, 
that  God  would  so  soften  the  hearts  of  the  dealers  in 
intoxicating  liquors,  that  they  might  see  the  wicked- 
ness of  the  traffic  and  be  persuaded  to  abandon  it 
forever."  A  daughter  of  Ex-Governor  Trimble,  of 
Ohio,  made  the  first  prayer,  and  remained  ever  after 
one  of  the  most  zealous  workers  in  the  cause.  The 
whole  audience  became  greatly  interested,  and  the 
inquiry  passed  from  lip  to  lip,  "  Is  there  not  some- 
thing that  we  can  do  to  put  a  stop  to  this  traffic  m 
the  souls  and  bodies  of  men?"  Another  meeting 
was  appointed  for  the  next  day,  Mrs.  Brayton  urging 
all  present  to  be  persistent  in  both  prayer  and  effort, 
and  not  to  cease  their  toils  till  the  good  work  was 
accomplished. 

The  meeting  of  the  men  at  the  same  hour  was  also 
interesting,  and  evinced  a  strong  and  earnest  purpose 
on  the  part  of  the  best  citizens  of  the  town  to  arrest 
the  progress  of  intemperance  by  such  means  as  should 
seem  to  be  best.  The  liquor-selling  interest  was 
strong  in  numbers  in  Hillsboro,  and  had  considerable 
wealth  at  its  back,  and  the  people  who  were  selling 
their  grain  to  the  distillers  were  not  inclined  to  favor 
any  movement  which  would  diminish  this  demand  for 
their  grain.  There  were,  moreover,  as  there  are  in 
all  such  places,  a  considerable  number  of  the  more 
respectable  citizens,  who,  while  they  admitted  in  the 
abstra  ;t  the  evils  of  the  sale  and  use  of  intoxicating 


524  MINNIE    HERMON. 

drinks,  were  unwilling  to  take  any  active  steps  to  stop 
it.  "  They  liked  a  glass  of  wine  occasionally  them- 
selves ;  cider  was  a  very  pleasant  drink,  and  ale  and 
beer  were  necessary  occasionally ;  then,  too,  the  liquor 
dealers  were,  some  of  them,  very  pleasant  fellows, 
and  had  interesting  families  ;  they  did  not  like  to  of- 
fend them — but,  as  for  these  low  grog-shops,  they  did 
not  care  how  soon  they  were  put  down.  As  to  the 
druggists,  most  of  whom  sold  liquors  by  the  glass  to 
genteel  customers,  it  would  be  positively  wrong  to 
their  patrons  to  compel  them  to  "give  up  this  part  of 
their  business,  as  it  was  well  known  that  people  might 
need  brandy  or  whiskey  or  rum  for  a  medicine,  when 
it  was  not  convenient  to  get  a  physician's  prescription 
for  it." 

To  these  respectable  allies  of  the  rum-seller  Mr. 
Brayton  and  his  friends  endeavored  to  show  the  hor- 
rible results  of  the  traffic,  and  pushed  home  the  ques- 
tion, "  If  your  son  or  daughter  had  acquired  a  taste 
for  liquor,  and  could  gratify  it  by  a  resort  to  these 
drug  stores  and  genteel  liquor  stores,  would  you  not 
feel  that  there  should  be  some  means  of  preventing 
them  from  obtaining  it  so  readily?"  "Well,  yes; 
but  then  my  sons  and  daughters  are  not  fond  of 
drink."  "  Perhaps  not,"  replied  Mr.  Brayton  ;  "  but 
somebody's  sons  and  daughters  are,  and  the  moral  law 
requires  you  to  love  your  neighbor  as  yourself." 

There  was  much  of  this  discussion  going  on  in 
Hillsboro  for  several  days,  and,  as  a  result  of  the  sue 
cessive  meetings,  the  women  were  wrought  up  to  the 
conviction  that  some  mode  of  appeal,  directly  to  the 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  525 

liquor  dealers,  must  be  adopted  and  enforced  in 
such  a  way  as  to  produce  a  salutary  effect.  Just  at 
this  time,  about  the  20th  of  December,  1873 — and 
we  are  particular  in  regard  to  our  dates  here,  because 
these  "are  events  of  history  which  we  are  recording — 
Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  a  well-known  lecturer  and  reformer, 
addressed  the  Hillsboro  Lyceum;  and,  at  the  close  of 
his  lecture,  having  already  seen  how  deeply  the  peo- 
ple were  interested  in  the  question  of  temperance, 
offered  to  deliver  a  free  temperance  lecture  there. 
His  offer  was  gratefully  accepted,  and  the  largest 
church  in  the  town  crowded.  Dr.  Lewis  is  a  man 
of  great  ability  as  an  organizer,  and  on  this  oc- 
casion he  proposed  to  the  women  of  Hillsboro  the 
formation  of  a  Temperance  League,  and  suggested 
the  following  plan,  which  was  substantially  that  pur- 
sued subsequently  all  over  Ohio  and  in  other  States. 
He  regarded  it  as  absolutely  necessary  that  they 
should  have  one  or  two  public  meetings,  or  more,  if 
they  chose,  with  the  pastors  of  the  various  churches 
on  the  platform,  and  that  the  public  sentiment  of  the 
best  part  of  the  community  should  be  aroused  and 
arrayed  against  the  traffic ;  that  the  men  should  be 
prepared  to  sustain  the  women  in  their  efforts  by 
prayers,  moral  support,  and  pecuniary  aid  to  any  ex- 
tent that  might  be  necessary ;  that  committees — if 
possible,  of  volunteers — of  the  very  best  women  in 
the  town,  should  be  appointed  by  the  Temperance 
League  to  go  to  the  keepers  of  drinking-saloons,  ho- 
tels, drug  stores,  etc.,  taking  with  them  forms  of 
pledges  adapted  to  their  several  cases,  previously 


526  MINNIE    IIEKMOX. 

drawn  up,  pledging  them  to  cease  retailing  liquor  for 
a  beverage,  and  that  these  committees  of  three,  four, 
or  six  ladies  should  courteously  request  them  to  sign 
these  pledges  and  stop  selling  liquor.  If  they  com- 
plied with  the  request  and  carried  out  the  pledge  in 
good  faith,  the  end  desired  would  be  obtained.  If 
they  refused,  the  women  were  to  endeavor  to  per- 
suade them  by  exhortation  and  urgent  pleading ;  and, 
failing  in  this,  to  ask  permission  to  sing  and  pray  in 
the  saloon,  store,  or  hotel,  and  to  continue  this  by  re- 
lays of  committees,  offering  the  pledge  to  all  who 
came  as  well  as  to  the  proprietor.  In  some  instances 
it  might  be  necessary  to  keep  up  a  siege  on  these 
places  from  morning  till  night,  and  perhaps  from  day 
to  day,  but  eventually  the  power  of  faith,  prayer,  and 
earnest  work  would  be  seen  in  the  surrender  even  of 
the  most  obdurate.  This  plan  was  very  heartily  ap- 
proved; and,  on  the  23d  of  December,  the  League 
was  formed  and  work  commenced  in  earnest.  Dr. 
Lewis  proceeded  from  Hillsboro  to  Washington  C.  H., 
Fayette  Co.,  about  twenty-five  miles  distant,  where 
he  found  a  similar  state  of  preparation,  and,  on  the 
25th  of  December,  inaugurated  a  similar  work.  From 
these  two  points  this  great  temperance  movement, 
which  has  since  spread  over  the  entire  land,  took  its 
first  departure.  Dr.  Lewis  was  called  further  "West 
by  his  engagements,  but,  early  in  February,  returned 
to  Ohio,  and  rendered  valuable  assistance  in  extend- 
ing the  work  for  about  three  weeks. 

The  success  of  the  movement  was  greatest  in  the 
smaller  towns  and  villages.     In  the  larger  cities  the 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  527 

opposition  was  so  great,  and  the  measures  adopted  by 
the  liquor  dealers  to  defend  their  traffic  so  violent, 
or  so  crafty,  that  many  of  the  women  shrunk  from 
encountering  the  insults  to  which  they  were  sub- 
jected. Still,  even  in  these  places  much  good  was 
accomplished  ;  many  were  led  to  abandon  the  traffic 
and  thousands  signed  the  pledge.  But  in  most  of  the 
smaller  towns  and  villages,  where  there  were  from 
ten  to  sixty  liquor  saloons,  the  traffic  was  by  per- 
sistent effort  entirely  broken  up.  At  no  point  among 
these  were  there  more  difficulties  encountered,  or 
more  patient  labor  bestowed,  than  in  Ilillsboro. 
The  town  had  a  population  of  from  3,500  to  4,000, 
and  more  than  thirty  places  in  which  liquor  was  sold. 
The  first  month's  labor  reduced  these  to  five  or  six ; 
but  some  of  these  were  very  obstinate.  One  drug- 
gist, before  whose  place  the  women  had  set  up  theii 
tent  or  tabernacle,  and  had  held  daily  meetings  foi 
weeks,  procured  an  injunction — which  was  served  on 
one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  persons,  against  their 
holding  these  meetings — and  commenced  a  suit,  lay< 
ing  his  damages  at  $10,000  for  the  interruption  to  his 
business.  The  excitement  was  so  great  that  the  venue 
was  changed  to  another  county,  but  he  was  finally 
defeated  and  relinquished  the  sale,  and  at  the  end  of 
three  months  the  entire  traffic  in  liquor  ceased  there. 
In  Washington,  Fayette  Co.,  the  other  starting-point 
of  this  new  departure,  the  struggle  was  not  so  long  ; 
there  were  not  so  many  stores,  and  all  were  car- 
ried within  a  menth — and  those  out  of  the  corpora- 
tion limits  not  long  after.  The  good  work  spread 


528  MmHIE    HERMON. 


not  only  over  all  the  State,  but  into  Indiana,,  Illinois, 
Pennsylvania,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  New  York,  and 
the  New  England  States.  In  Ohio,  by  the  24th  of 
February,  it  was  reported  tiiat  336  diinking  saloons 
had  been  closed,  and  the  business  of  nearly  as  many 
more  completely  broken  up  ;  that  more  than  20,000 
names  had  been  signed  to  the  pledge,  At  that  date 
a  convention,  was  held  at  Columbus,  and  a  State  Wo- 
man's Temperance  League  organized.  Subsequent 
reports  showed  a  great  increase,  both  in  the  number 
of  saloons  closed  and  in  the  signers  of  the  pledge. 

We  need  not  say  that,  in  this  great  movement,  both 
Walter  and  Mrs.  Brayton  were  efficient  and  patient 
workers.  Mrs.  Brayton,  from  constitutional  diffi- 
dence, did  not  seek  to  become  a  leader  ;  but  she  gave 
herself  up  to  the  work,  and  was  often  compelled  to 
lead  when  she  would  have  preferred  a  humbler  posi- 
tion. But  we  shall  best  show  what  she  did  accom- 
plish, by  allowing  Ida  Brayton  to  tell,  in  a  letter  to 
her  friend,  Carrie  Hudson,  the  story  of  this  temper- 
ance crusade,  and  of  her  mother's  part  in  it. 

HILLSBOKO,  March  —  ,  1874. 

MY  DEAR  CARRIE  :  —  Is  it  possible  that  nearly 
three  months  have  elapsed  since  the  date  of  my  last, 
when  hitherto  I  have  been  the  most  punctual  of  cor- 
respondents ?  To  me  the  time  has  seemed  incredibly 
short,  as  it  always  does  when  one  is  unusually  busy. 
Shall  I  tell  you  what  it  is  that  has  so  absorbed  my 
thoughts  and  attention  —  that,  for  the  nonce,  even  my 
dearest  Carrie  has  been  almost  forgotten  2 


THE  WOMEN'S  ORUSADE.  531 

You  have  seen  accounts  in  the  papers  of  the  Tem- 
perance Movement,  or  rather,  Woman's  Temperance 
Movement,  as  it  is  termed,  and  may  at  first  be  some- 
what surprised  to  learn  that  your  "  quiet  little  puss," 
as  you  used  so  persistently  to  call  me  in  our  school- 
life,  is  engaged  heart  and  soul  in  the  work.  Don't 
start — I  have  grown  neither  bold  nor  boisterous,  but 
only  terribly  in  earnest  in  this  over-mastering  desire 
to  have  some  little  part  in  helping  to  stay  the  tide  of 
woe  which  is  sweeping  over  our  beloved  land.  You 
know  that  my  sweet  mother  is  always  foremost  in 
every  good  work,  but  into  this  she  throws  her  whole 
soul.  Father  not  only  fully  approves  of  her  course, 
but  is  her  counsellor  and  support  in  all  that  she  does. 
They  are  always  so  thoroughly  united  in  their  views 
and  feelings,  that  it  is  no  more  than  I  would  expect ; 
but,  you  know,  there  are  many  men  who,  through 
false  pride,  object  to  their  wives  taking  a  prominent 
stand  in  any  public  movement.  My  own  espousal  of 
the  cause  was  very  sudden.  I  had  been  out  of  town 
for  a  visit  of  several  days,  and,  upon  my  return 
home,  entered  mother's  room  unannounced,  thinking 
to  take  her  by  surprise.  I  found  her  in  earnest  con- 
versation with  father,  and  as  she  turned  toward  me, 
the  glow  upon  her  countenance  gave  it  an  almost 
heavenly  beauty.  "  What  good  thing  has  happened  ? " 
I  exclaimed  ;  and,  as  soon  as  the  kisses  of  welcome 
had  been  received,  I  was  informed  of  the  new  move- 
ment just  inaugurated.  "  Your  mother  has  found 
her  mission,"  said  father,  his  voice  trembling  with 
.feeling,  "and  I  am  persuaded  that  she  has  put  her 
22 


532  MINNIE    HEKMON. 

hand  to  a  great  and  mighty  work."  "  You  know, 
Walter,"  was  the  quiet  reply,  "  I  must  work  as 
well  as  pray."  Do  you  wonder,  Carrie  dear,  that 
catching  the  inspiration,  I  placed  my  hand  in  hers, 
saying:  "Please  let  me  work  with  you,  mother;" 
and  so  we  have  gone,  hand  in  hand,  from  that  time, 
though,  as  you  will  readily  believe,  her  zeal  is  more 
wide-awake  and  enduring  than  mine.  Repeatedly 
I  have  been  aroused  from  sleep  by  the  pressure  of 
her  lips  upon  my  forehead  before  daylight,  hurrying 
me  to  an  early  breakfast,  and  then  to  the  morning 
prayer-meeting  as  a  preparation  for  the  round  of 
saloon-visiting  during  the  day.  You  may  depend 
upon  one  thing,  I  do  not  tarry  long  at  the  toilet,  over 
my  back-hair,  in  these  days.  There  is  no  time  for 
any  fooling  with  fashions.  And  yet,  Carrie  dear, 
this  "  Crusade,"  as  they  term  it,  is  not  all  poetry,  by 
any  means.  There  is,  oh,  so  much  that  would  damp- 
en one's  ardor  in  a  less  vital  cause !  Revilings  and 
curses  from  the  low  and  degraded ;  threats  which  al- 
most make  the  blood  curdle  in  one's  veins ;  and, 
sometimes,  even  water  and  beer  thrown  upon  us  as 
we  are  bowed  in  prayer.  It  is  so  dreadful,  too,  to  be 
surrounded  by  a  disgraceful  rabble,  that  often  my 
veiy  limbs  have  trembled  beneath  me,  and  I  should 
hare  fallen  in  the  way,  had  not  mother's  courage  and 
strength  held  me  up.  There  is  strength,  also,  in  the 
thought  that  we  are  battling  for  human  life,  and 
more  than  all,  to  save  souls  from  death  ;  and  so  it  is 
that  neither  drenching  rain,  driving  snow,  or  bitter 
cold  has  power  to  quench  our  ardor.  Upon  one  oc- 


TBLE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  533 

oasion  the  excitement  here  ran  fearfully  high.  A 
tabernacle  had  been  erected  for  our  use  before  the 
store  of  a  druggist  who  persisted  in  selling  liquor  by 
the  glass.  In  his  anger  he  got  out  an  injunction 
against  168  ladies,  in  which  number  mother  and  my- 
self were  included,  for  interfering  with  his  business, 
laying  his  damages  at  $10,000.  The  turmoil  was  so 
great,  that  it  became  rfecessary  to  remove  the  trial 
to  another  county.  He  was  defeated,  however,  and 
subsequently  came  over  to  the  right  side. 

You  have  heard  of  Dr.  Lewis ;  but,  unless  you 
have  sat  under  one  of  his  thrilling  appeals  in  behalf 
of  the  cause,  you  can  have  no  idea  of  his  power  as 
a  speaker.  Many  of  the  most  bitter  opposers  of  tem- 
perance were  melted  down  under  his  eloquence,  and 
have  come  out  fully  as  firm  and  strong  upon  the 
right  side.  Upon  several  occasions  I  have  accom- 
panied mother  to  Washington,  in  Fayette  county, 
where  the  work  was  simultaneous  with  that  of  our 
town,  and  only  wish  there  was  time  for  me  to  tell 
you  what  we  saw  and  heard  there.  One  hardened 
rum-seller  prayed  for  an  injunction  against  the  ladies, 
on  the  ground  that  their  prayers  were  directed  not  to 
heaven,  but  at  the  persons  whom  they  wished  to 
coerce  into  giving  up  their  business.  Judge  Safford 
granted  the  injunction,  and  the  tabernacle  erected 
for  the  shelter  of  the  ladies  was  demolished.  As  in 
our  own  place,  there  were  great  indignities  offered, 
and  much  cruel  persecution  endured,  but  followed 
with  glorious  results.  I  must  tell  you  of  a  little  in- 
cident concerning  Mrs.  C.,  who  leads  the  movement 


534  MESTNIE    HERMON. 

in  Washington.  After  the  ladies  had  "been  at  work 
for  some  time  at  the  saloon  of  a  stubborn  dealer,  lie 
lost  patience,  and  rudely  told  them  to  go  home  and 
attend  to  their  own  business.  Thereupon  they  also 
lost  their  temper,  and  told  the  man  that  if  his  con- 
duct was  repeated,  they  would  send  their  husbands 
after  him  to  enforce  the  la,w,  as  they  were  anxious 
already  to  do.  This  did  not  mend  the  saloon-keeper's 
evil  mood.  But  when  the  ladies  retired  and  prayed 
over  the  matter  until  nearly  midnight,  they  saw  that 
they  had  not  acted  in  the  spirit  of  the  Master,  nor  in 
accordance  with  the  true  theory  of  the  movement. 
Accordingly,  on  the  next  morning  they  went  to  his 
saloon,  admitted  that  they  had  been  in  the  wrong, 
and  asked  his  pardon.  From  that  moment  his  fate 
was  sealed,  and  on  the  next  day  he  unconditionally 
surrendered. 

Other  victories  were  won,  and  now  there  is  not 
a  rum-shop  in  either  Hillsboro  or  Washington. 
Toward  the  last  of  January  I  accompanied  mother 
to  New  Vienna,  where  the  good  cause  was  progress- 
ing. There  were  some  exceedingly  obstinate  cases 
there,  among  whom  was  a  Mr.  Yan  Pelt,  who  at  the 
outset  drenched  the  ladies  with  dirty  water  and  beer. 
He  also  brandished  an  axe  in  order  to  terrify  them. 
They,  however,  kept  guard  over  his  saloon,  the  de- 
tachments relieving  each  other  every  two  hours, 
serving  daily,  through  storm  and  sunshine,  for  a 
period  of  three  weeks,  when  he  iinally  succumbed  to 
the  influence  of  prayer,  and  hung  out  (he  white  flag 
as  a  signal  of  unconditional  surrender.  So  complete 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  535 

was  his  conversion,  that  since  that  day  he  has  been  a 
faithful  and  earnest  ally  in  the  work,  bringing  to  it 
all  his  energies,  and  taking  the  field  like  a  new 
Paul. 

Soon  after  this  we  went  to  Xenia,  which  you  know 
is  a  large  town,  and  had  a  great  number  of  drinking 
saloons.  The  women  there  had  thoroughly  prepared 
themselves  for  the  work,  and  were  full  of  faith  and 
zeal.  The  leader  there  was  Mrs.  James  Monroe,  a 
friend  of  mother's,  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  a  lady  of  the  highest  standing.  The 
worst  drinking  saluori  in  the  town  had  the  very  ap- 
propriate name  of  "  The  Shades  of  Death,"  and  was 
doing  an  immense  business.  Mrs.  Monroe  and  her 
band  of  praying  women  laid  siege  to  this  place,  and, 
after  pleading  with  the  proprietor  most  urgently  to 
quit  the  business,  without  seeming  to  make  any  im- 
pression, as  he  would  not  allow  them  to  pray  and 
sing  in  his  saloon,  they  set  up  a  tabernacle  in  front 
of  it  and  beseiged  him  with  their  prayers  and  hymns 
from  morning  till  night  for  three  weeks.  He  seemed 
to  become  more  hardened  every  day,  and  some  of 
the  women  were  almost  ready  to  be  discouraged,  be- 
lieving that  his  heart  was  too  hard  to  be  moved; 
but  Mrs.  Monroe  had  still  strong  faith,  and  they  held 
out. 

She  had  sent  for  mother  to  come  and  help  them, 
and  we  reached  Xenia  on  the  morning  of  the  18th 
of  February,  and  went  directly  to  the  little  tabernacle, 
where  \ve  were  heartily  welcomed  by  Mrs.  Monroe 
and  the  other  ladies.  They  had  already  had  one 


536  MESTNIE   HERMON. 

prayer-meeting  that  morning,  but  there  were  no 
signs  of  any  change.  Bloated  topers  crowded  into  the 
saloon,  and  came  out  again  wiping  their  mouths  with 
the  back  of  their  hands,  and  occasionally  muttering  a 
curse  on  those  "  plaguey  women  that  kept  spying 
around."  The  saloon-keeper  was  busy  at  his  bar, 
and  seemed  utterly  indifferent.  It  was  said  that  the 
distillers  in  Cincinnati  not  only  furnished  this  man 
with  liquor  free,  but  had  sent  him  money  to  induce 
him  to  hold  out.  Well,  Mrs.  Monroe  made  one  of 
the  sweetest  and  most  touching  prayers  I  ever  heard, 
and  we  had  just  begun  to  sing  our  favorite  hymn — 

"Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee," 

when  this  rum-seller  rushed  out  of  his  saloon,  and 
running  up  to  the  tabernacle  door,  called  out,  "  MPS. 
Monroe,  I  can't  stand  it  any  longer — I  give  in.  The 
boys  are  rolling  out  my  whiskey  barrels  now,  and  I 
want  you  to  see  me  spill  the  whole  of  it  into  the 
gutter."  We  all  hurried  to  the1  door  ;  it  was  snow- 
ing hard,  but  there,  sure  enough,  were  the  whiskey 
barrels  tumbling  out,  and  as  soon  as  the  first  one 
reached  the  gutter,  the  saloon-keeper  struck  its  head 
a  mighty  blow  with  his  axe,  and  the  vile  poison  soon 
flowed  in  a  stream  down  the  street.  Barrel  after 
barrel  was  served  in  this  way,  till  the  saloon  was 
emptied.  The  poor  topers  looked  aghast  at  such  a 
waste,  but  the  saloon-keeper's  face  was  radiant  with 
joy,  and  the  crowd,  which  had  gathered  shouted  over 
the  triumph  of  temperance.  The  dear  women  who 
had  fought  such  a  good  fight,  and  whose  faith  had 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  537 

not  faltered,  were  weeping,  laughing  and  praying, 
all  together.  Mrs.  Monroe  jumped  up  on  a  dry- 
goods  box  and  struck  up  the  grand  old  doxology — 

"Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow," 

and  everybody  joined  in,  the  saloon-keeper,  who 
had  really  a  very  fine  voice,  singing  with  a  will.  In 
a  few  minutes,  the  church-bells  all  over  town  began 
to  ring  merrily  for  the  victory,  and  within  an  hour 
it  was  telegraphed  all  over  the  state. 

There  was  another  scene  which  I  witnessed  in 
Xenia,  that  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  strong  men. 
A  large  band  of  young  school-girls,  led  by  their 
teacher,  took  their  station  before  the  saloons,  and 
sang  with  inexpressible  pathos,  such  songs  as,  "  Say  ! 
Mr.  Barkeeper,  has  father  been  here  ? "  and  "  Father, 
dear  father,  come  home !  "  Oh !  these  little  voices 
have  a  wonderful  power  of  reaching  the  heart. 
Everybody  was  so  terribly  in  earnest  in  Xenia,  that 
I  do  not  believe  the  siege  will  be  raised  until  the 
last  liquor  saloon  has  surrendered. 

It  was  very  hard  for  us  to  tear  ourselves  away  from 
Xenia,  but  as  mother  was  one  of  the  delegates  to  the 
Convention  at  Columbus,,  we  were  compelled  to  re- 
sume our  journey. 

Arriving  there  on  Saturday,  we  attended  a  large 
temperance  meeting  the  same  evening,  where  there 
were  about  1,200  ladies  assembled,  the  majority  of 
whom  were  ready  to  do  and  suffer  for  the  further- 
ance of  the  good  cause.  Previous  to  the  Conference, 
a  mass  meeting  was  held,  intended  to  strengthen  and 


538  MINNIE    HERMON. 

encourage  the  women  of  the  city  in  the  work  upon 
which  they  were  about  to  enter.  Dr.  Lewis  was 
there,  and  "  Mother  Stewart,"  of  Springfield,  an 
accomplished  and  most  lovely  old  lady,  over  seventy 
years  of  age,  but  with  all  the  zeal  and  fervor  of  youth, 
also  the  New  Vienna  convert,  Yan  Pelt.  Women 
constituted  seven-eighths  of  the  assemblage,  did  near- 
ly all  the  speaking,  and  soon  became  almost  enthusi- 
astic enough  to  march  in  a  body  upon  the  dram-shops 
of  the  State  capital.  The  speeches  were  all  in  re- 
markably good  taste,  and  some  were  really  eloquent. 
Tears  were  brought  to  many  eyes,  the  house  re- 
sounded with  "  Amens  "  and  "  Hallelujahs  "  from 
the  listening  men,  and,  after  every  speech,  the  crowd 
arose  and  sang  one  of  the  songs  of  the  campaign  with 
thrilling  effect.  These  songs  were  the  well-known 
hymns,  "  Nearer,  my  God,  to  Thee,"  "  All  Hail  the* 
Power  of  Jesus'  Name,"  and  "  Our  God  is  March- 
ing On."  Mrs.  Mattie  McClelland  Brown  and 
Mother  Stewart  held  the  almost  breathless  attention 
of  the  audience. 

The  convention  met  in  the  City  Hall.  Several 
hundred  delegates  were  present,  and  the  platform 
was  occupied  by  twenty-five  clergymen.  Dio  Lewis 
was  called  to  the  chair,  and,  after  a  most  fervent 
prayer  by  Mother  Stewart,  the  doctor  invited  the 
delegates  to  the  platform,  which  proved  entirely  too 
small  for  such  a  large  body.  Reports  were  read  con- 
cerning the  progress  of  the  crusade  in  different  towns, 
and  many  a  thrilling  story  was  told  by  those  who 
were  personally  cognizant  of  the  facts.  Messages 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE.  539 

wore  also  received  from  time  to  time,  from  different 
points,  announcing  new  victories,  and  calling  forth 
fresh  rejoicings,  and  a  Woman's  State  Temperance 
League  was  formed.  But,  Carrie  dear,  my  letter  is 
growing  too  long.  Come  and  see  me,  for  I  cannot 
unburden  my  heart  on  paper,  and  what  you  read  in 
the  papers  seems  so  tame  in  the  light  of  reality.  I 
shall  continue  in  the  good  work,  for  there  is  a  great 
deal  of  finishing-up  to  do  yet,  and,  when  all  is  done 
at  home,  there  is  enough  to  do  abroad.  Hoping  to 
see  you  soon,  and  believing  that  you  will  patiently 
endure  this  infliction  for  the  love  you  bear  the  cause, 
I  am,  always,  your  loving 

IDA  MAT  BBAYTON. 


5*0  MINNIE    HERMON. 

THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE. 

BY    LOUISE   S.    Ul'HAM. 

On  !  hark,  what  cry  is  sounding,  borne  clear  upon  the  air ! 
4  Ring,  bells,  throughout  the  nation,  ring,  ring  the  call  to 

prayer  1" 
The  women  now    are   rising,  and   the   Help  in  which  they 

trust 
Will  give  diem  strength  for  victory  in  the  cause  that  is  so 

just  I 
The  wires  flash  joyous  greeting ;  back  and  forth,  from  East 

to  West, 

The  words  are,  "  God  is  with  us,  and  this,  of  all,  is  best  I" 
Ah  1  sordid  hearts  may  fear  and  quake,  for  well  indeed  they 

know 
The  courage  bom  of  suffering  will  strike  the  surest  blow. 

Ho !  all   long-suffering  mothers,  wives,   daughters,  sing  an'd 

pi-ay, 

For  a  new  crusade  they  usher — your  emancipation-day. 
They  rally  round  no  standard,  with  no  helmet  and  no  shield, 
Save    their  womanly   endeavors;  but  will  never   yield   the 

field. 
They  do  not  work  with  pledge  alone  that  says,  "  We  will  not 

taste 

The  soul-destroying  liquors  that  run  our  lives  to  waste !" 
At  evil's  root  they  are  striking,  right  valiantly  and  well, 
And  the  pledge  which  they  insist  on  is,  "  We'll  never,  never 

sell !" 

They   bravely   enter   places   where   men    would    blush    tor 

shame 
To  be   found   by  those   who   know  them   by  their  honored 

household  name. 


THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE  541 

They  bavo  found  in  bar-rooms  children,  who  their  little  arms 

would  twine 
Round  a  father's  neck,  beseeching  that  he  their  pledge  would 

sign. 

They  seek  no  law,  no  conflict ;  their  labor  is  of  love  ; 
Their  help,  the  rule  of  kindness  ;  their  guidance,  God  above. 
O  bells!  ring  out,  ring  boldly;  sound  the  tocsin  everywhere, 
While  heart  to  heart  is  thrilling  with  woman's  call  to  prayer. 

On,  on,  heroic  women  !  your  warfare  cannot  fail, 
E'en  now  your  foes  are  shaking  like  reeds  before  a  gale ; 
A  million  lives  are  sighing  for  truer  liberty, 
A  million  souls  are  waiting  your  glorious  victory. 
Urged  by  the  suffering  legion  who  have  stirred  you  to  the  strife, 
Down  witli  the  sordid  traffic  that  is  taking  more  than  life  t  j 
The  day  is  yours;  charge  nobly.     Crush  the  tyrant  every- 
where 1 
While  the  tocsin-peal  is  ringing  brave  woman's  call  to  prayer. 


BATTLE-HYMN  OF  THE  WOMEN'S  CRUSADE. 

BY   KEY.    WILLIAM    HUNTER,    D.D. 

THE  light  of  truth  is  breaking ; 

On  the  mountain  tops  it  gleams  ; 
Let  it  flash  along  our  valleys, 

Let  it  glitter  on  our  streams, 
Till  all  our  land  awakens 

In  its  flush  of  golden  beaina. 
Our  God  is  marching  on. 

With  purpose  strong  and  steady, 
In  the  Great  Jehovah's  name, 

We  rise  to  snatch  our  kindred 

From  the  depths  of  woe  and  shame ; 


MINNIE    FTERMON. 

And  the  jubilee  of  freedom 
To  the  slaves  of  sin  proclaim. 
Our  God  is  marching  on. 

From  morning's  early  watches 
Till  the  setting  of  the  sun, 

We  will  never  flag  nor  falter 
In  the  work  we  have  begun, 

Till  the  forts  have  all  surrendered, 
And  the  victory  is  won. 
Our  God  is  marching  on. 

We  wield  no  carnal  weapon, 
And  we  hurl  no  fiery  dart ; 

But  with  words  of  love  and  reason 
We  are  sure  to  win  the  heart, 

And  persuade  the  poor  transgressor 
To  prefer  the  better  part. 
Our  God  is  marching  on. 

When  dawns  the  day  of  terror, 
And  the  awful  trumpet's  sound 

Shall  waken  up  the  sleep<  rs 

From  beneath  the  quaking  ground, 

May  no  blood  of  fallen  brothers 
On  our  startled  souls  be  found  ! 
Our  God  is  marching  on. 

Our  strength  is  in  Jehovah, 
And  our  cause  is  in  His  care ; 

With  Almighty  arms  to  help  us, 
We  have  faith  to  do  and  dare, 

While  confiding  in  the  promise 
That  the  Lord  will  answer  prayer. 
Our  God  is  marching  on. 


FRANCIS    MURPHV. 


THE 
LIFE    AND    WORK 

FRANCIS     MURPHY 


THE 


TEMPERANCE    REFORMER. 


EMBRACING     ALSO 


ANECDOTES,  INCIDENTS,  AND  THE   SPEECHES  OF 
HIMSELF  AND  HIS  ASSOCIATES. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAQB 

ALCOHOL  THE  GREATEST  CTJKSE  OP  THE  HUMAN  RACE. — TEMPER- 
ANCE REFORM  A  COMPARATIVELY  RECENT  MOVEMENT. — THE 
FRANCIS  MURPHY  MOVEMENT. — DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  GREAT 
IRISH  ORATOR 549 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  EARLY  LIFE  OF  FRANCIS  MURPHY  IN  OLD  IRELAND. — HIS 
DEPARTURE  FOR  AND  SETTLEMENT  IN  AMERICA. — HE  FINALLY 
OPENS  A  HOTEL  AND  COMMENCES  THE  LIQUOR  TRAFFIC  IN 
PORTLAND,  ME. — TRIAL  AND  ACQUITTAL  ON  THE  CHARGE  OF 
MURDER .  563 

CHAPTER  m. 

MURPHY'S  CAREER  AS  A  TEMPERANCE  ORATOR  OPENS. — HIS 
STRUGGLES  AND  PROGRESS  IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  REFORM. — THE 
PUBLIC  RECOGNIZES  HIM  AND  HIS  MISSION. — THE  GREAT  PITTS- 
BURGH REVIVAL. — FKANCIS  MURPHY  BECOMES  A  HOUSEHOLD 
NAME  THROUGHOUT  THE  LAND 593 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CONTINUATION  OF  THE  PITTSBURGH  WORK. — MURPHY'S  DEPART- 
URE FOLLOWED  BY  CONTINUED  ACTIVITY. — FEATURES  OF  THE 
REFORM  MOVEMENT. — A  HOST  OF  FOLLOWERS  AND  CO-LABOR- 
ERS.— THE  INAUGURATION  OF  THE  MOVEMENT  AT  PHILA- 
DELPHIA    637 

CHAPTER  V. 

HOW  THE  WORK  PROCEEDED  IN  THE  CITY  OF  BROTHERLY  LOVE. 
— CO-OPERATION  OF  THE  LADIES  AND  THE  CHURCHES. — ANEC- 
DOTES, ADDRESSES  AND  PERSONAL  INCIDENTS 663 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  547 

CHAPTER  VI. 

PACK 

MURPHY'S  SPEECH  AT  COLUMBUS,  OHIO. — THE  WORK  AT  ELMIRA, 
N.  T. — INTERESTING  SCENES  IN  THE  NEW  YORK  REVIVAL. — 
FACTS,  INCIDENTS  AND  FIGURES  OF  THE  RESULTS  OF  THE  MUR- 
PHY MOVEMENT  IN  THE  SOUTHERN  TIER  OF  COUNTIES,  GROW- 
ING OUT  OF  THE  ELMIRA  WORK.  — FRANCIS  MURPHY'S  SPEECH  AT 
CHATAUQUA 692 

CHAPTER    VII. 

FRANCIS  MURPHY  AMONG  THE  TROJANS. — ANOTHER  GRAND  SEA- 
SON OF  TEMPERANCE  REFORM  AND  REVIVAL. — FORTY  THOU- 
SAND PLEDGE-TAKERS  IN  TWO  MONTHS. — STRIKING  PHASES  OF 
THE  CAMPAIGN  AT  TROY 738 

CHAPTER    VIII. 

FURTHER  SPEECHES. — FACTS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  ITEMS  CON- 
NECTED WITH  THE  TROY  MOVEMENT. — MURPHY'S  CO-LABORERS. 
— ESTIMATE  OF  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORK.  .  .781 


THE    LIFE    AND    WORK    OF 

DR.     HENRY     A.     REYNOLDS.      . 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  EARLY  CAREER  OF  A  REMARKABLE  MAN. — THE  OCCASION 
OF  HIS  REFORM  AND  CONVERSION. — FIRST  ORGANIZATION  OF 
KEFORM  CLUBS.— WORK  IN  MAINE  AND  MASSACHUSETTS 813 

CHAPTER  X. 

DR.  REYNOLDS'  SPEECH  AT  THE  INTERNATIONAL  CONFERENCE  IN 
PHILADELPHIA. — HE  COMMENCES  THE  GRAND  MICHIGAN  WORK. 

PKOGRESS  AND   SUCCESS  OF  A  PHENOMENAL   MOVEMENT. — 

INCIDENTS,  SPEECHES,  AND  STATISTICS 839 


648  TABLE   OF    CONTENTS. 

f 

CHAPTER  XL 

FA6B 

THE  TEMPERANCE  WORK  OF  DR.  REYNOLDS  ^S  CONTINUED  IN 
ILLINOIS. — HIS  EFFORTS  IN  THAT  STATE. — THE  CHICAGO  RE- 
VIVAL.— FACTS,  SPEECHES,  AND  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE 
REYNOLDS  MOVEMENT  IN  THE  PRAIRIE  CITY. — CONCLUSION.  .  .  873 


THE 
LIFE     AND    WORK 


OP 


CHAPTER    I. 

A-LCOHOL   THE    GREATEST     CURSE    OF    THE     HUMAN     RACE. TEM- 
PERANCE   REFORM    A    COMPARATIVELY     RECENT     MOVEMENT. 

THE     FRANCIS      MURPHY     MOVEMENT. DESCRIPTION     OF     THK 

GREAT    IRISH    ORATOR. 

FROM  the  earliest  days  to  the  present  time  the  curse  of  alco- 
hol has  rained  ruin,  misery,  degradation  and  crime,  on  weak 
and  straggling  humanity.  History,  which  is  simply  "philoso- 
phy teaching  by  example,"  is  full  of  the  most  eloquent  and 
pregnant  illustrations  of  the  curse  wrought  by  the  love  of 
stimulants.  The  Biblical  account  of  Noah's  discovery  of  the 
fascination  and  the  effects  of  wine,  typifies  the  fact  that  even 
while  the  race  was  in  its  infancy,  it  commenced  to  be  coiled 
in  the  folds  of  that  monstrous  appetite,  which  has  grown  with 
civilization,  assuming  constantly  new  phases,  and  been  the 
fatal  root  of  the  most  terrible  crimes.  Were  the  element  of 
alcohol  eliminated  from  the  h'dden  causes  that  have  made  the 
records  of  humanity  black  and  gloomy  tragedies,  it  would 
sweep  away  the  larger  share  of  the  atrocities  that  revolt  the 
student  in  his  investigations.  The  fall  of  empires,  as  well  as 
the  ruin  of  individuals,  may,  in  numerous  instances,  be 

[549] 


550  THE   LIFE    AND   WOKK   OF 

directly  traced  to  the  cursed  appetite  for  strong  drink.  Since 
the  first  dawn  of  civilization  down  to  the  present  time,  men 
have  murdered  their  friends  as  well  as  their  enemies,  ruined 
their  families,  wasted  their  substance,  in  a  word,  transformed 
themselves  from  rational  men  into  raving  demons,  in  obedience 
to  this  deadly  craving.  From  the  monarch  on  his  throne  to 
the  peasant  in  his  hut,  the  insidious  poison  has  wrought  its 
fiendish  work,  and  introduced  moral  chaos,  lawlessness, 
cruelty,  and  all  forms  of  evil,  where  thrift,  order  and  virtue, 
but  for  this  fell  agency,  would  have  been  triumphant.  It  will 
be  useless  to  enumerate  illustrations  of  this  fact  from  the 
annals  of  the  past.  It  is  one  of  those  sad  truisms  of  history, 
sown  thick  with  illustrations  through  eveiy  age,  written  in 
plague,  murder,  rapine,  and  all  the  blackest  forms  of  unbridled 
selfishness  and  passion.  Human  villany  has  always  sought  the 
alliance  of  alcohol,  when  it  would  consummate  its  projects,  to 
stifle  the  last  faint  protests  of  conscience  and  enkindle  the  more 
ferocious  instincts  which  reveal  the  traces  of  the  wild  beast 
lingering  in  the  human  breast.  This  form  of  statement  may 
be  called  glittering  generalization  ;  but  it  is  designed  to  call 
attention  to  a  fact,  which  most  essayists  and  historians  from 
the  philosophic  Buckle  down,  have  lost  sight  of,  or  perhaps  de- 
liberately overlooked,  that  among  the  most  potent  factors  that 
have  entered  into  the  problem  of  the  human  race,  the  love  of 
stimulants,  of  which  alcohol  is  perhaps  the  chief,  has  an  evil 
pre-eminence. 

It  is  a  significant  and  striking  fact,  that  it  is  only  within 
the  last  two  centuries  that  the  moral  sense  of  humanity  has 
awakened  to  an  alarming  sense  of  the  real  gist  of  this  tre- 
mendous question,  and  attempted  to  grapple  with  it  practically. 
In  spite  of  the  innumerable  facts  staring  men  in  the  face,  the 
love  of  wine  and  other  forms  of  stimulant  had  previously  en- 
lifted  in  its  cause  the  specious  pleading  of  so-called  philosophy, 
the  glowing  strains  of  poetry,  and  the  beauties  of  art ;  nay, 
it  had  even  dragged  religion  into  a  sacreligious  alliance,  and 
daringly  cilled  on  the  oracles  of  God  to  set  the  seal  of  Divine 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  551 

approval  or.  the  most  malign  agency  which  has  blasted  the 
bodies  and  souls  of  mankind.  In  a  barbaric  age  it  is  easy  to 
understand  the  lack  of  moral  distinctions,  but  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  fully  realize  the  utter  want  of  appreciation,  which 
made  the  fine  civilizations  of  the  ancient  world  associate 
drunkenness  rather  with  something  poetic,  refined,  and 
ennobling,  than  stigmatize  it  as  the  basest  and  most  danger- 
ous appetite  which  has  devastated  the  hearts  and  hopes  of  the 
race.  From  the  sublime  Homer  down  to.  the  dainty  and  licen- 
tious Anacreon  among  the  Greeks  ;  from  Ennius,  who  sang 
the  praises  of  a  virtuous  country  life,  to  the  wise  and  witty 
Horace,  among  the  Romans,  poetry  crowned  the  reeling  Bac- 
chus with  honors  no  less  than  Minerva,  the  deity  of  wisdom. 
The  great  philosophers  and  moralists  did  not  hesitate  to  in- 
voke wine  as  the  genial  friend  of  man,  and  use  their  strong- 
est logic  to  strengthen  its  hold  over  the  human  understand- 
ing. The  same  callous  and  terrible  disregard  of  this  frightful 
enemy  of  virtue,  health,  and  public  welfare,  continued  for 
many  ages  after  the  victory  of  Christianity  over  the  old  forms 
of  religious  error.  And  it  is  a  sad  fact  that  while  the  most 
pure  and  blessed  of  religions  was  interpreted  as  tacitly 
indorsing  the  use  of  strong  drink  as  a  beverage,  it  was  left 
for  the  fanatical  Arab  prophet  and  reformer,  Mohammed,  to 
brand  with  his  strongest  curses  even  the  tasting  of  the  deadly 
potion  which  steals  away  the  brains  and  consciences  of  men. 

Mr.  Leckey,  whose  work  on  the  history  of  Morals  attracted 
so  much  attention  a  few  years  ago,  acutely  observes  that, 
while  the  priests,  philosophers,  and  moralists  of  former  ages 
proclaimed  the  general  ethical  truths  with  so  much  clearness 
and  eloquence,  they  left  the  attempt  to  grapple  with  and  rem- 
edy the  practical  every-day  evils  of  life  to  the  present  utili- 
tarian age.  Pre-eminently  is  this  the  case  with  temperance 
reform,  one  of  the  most  magnificent  movements  in  its  series  of 
waves,  which  this  nineteenth  century,  great  as  it  is  in  improve- 
ments relating  alike  to  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical 
man,  has  known. 


552  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

The  evil  of  intoxication,  unlike  many  other  vices,  has  far- 
reaching  roots  of  destruction  and  misery.  It  propagates  itself 
by  the  most  insidious  feelers,  and  masks  its  dangers  at  the  outset 
by  alluring  the  unwary  with  appeals  to  some  of  the  most  de- 
lightful and  worthy  instincts.  It  borrows  the  arguments  of 
society  and  friendship,  and  offers  the  fatal  cup  with  honeyed 
smiles  and  words.  The  number  of  victims  who  have  been 
led  into  the  habit  of  drinking,  thence  to  drunkenness,  crime, 
and  utter  ruin  by  the  hand  of  beauty,  of  kindly  feeling,  and 
regard  for  the  so-called  social  amenities,  is  simply  numberless. 
One  may  fancy  Satan,  the  genius  of  evil,  laughing  with  demo- 
niac glee,  as  he  witnesses  the  most  dreadful  of  all  the  agencies 
for  the  devastation  of  body  and  soul,  putting  on  the  vestments 
of  an  angel  of  light,  and  sapping  the  dignity  and  truth  of 
manhood  with  pleas  drawn  from  the  armories  of  God.  All 
the  readers  of  this  book  will  recognize  the  force  of  the  fact, 
as  old  and  threadbare  as  it  may  seem.  A  lovely  woman,  pure 
and  good  in  all  her  instincts,  offers  a  visitor  a  glass  of  wine 
in  obedience  to  a  common  conventionality,  with  her  thought- 
lessness a  mere  matter  of  form.  She"  little  thinks  in  doing  this 
seemingly  trifling  courtesy,  she  is  opening  the  gates,  per- 
haps, which  lead  the  victim  down  on  the  broad  road  of  ruin, 
till'he  ends  in  the  purlieus  of  the  groggery  and  the  brothel 
an  outcast  and  a  wreck.  A  dear  friend  asks  one  whom,  may- 
hap, he  loves  as  a  brother,  to  share  the  social  glass  with  him, 
not  believing  that  the  cup  holds  a  potion  more  malignant  and 
terrible  than  so  much  prussic  acid.  For  in  the  former  case, 
the  issues  not  only  of  time,  but  eternity,  hang  in  the  balance. 
So  the  sweetest  impulses  of  the  human  heart  have  been 
wrenched  out  of  their  sphere  to  allure  the  weak  from  their 
hold  on  the  one  anchor  of  safety,  total  abstinence. 

A  wise  Spanish  proverb  says,  that  wine  is  made  up  of  the 
blood  of  three  animals,  the  ape,  the  bull,  and  the  hog,  thereby 
typifying  the  different  stages  of  intoxication — foolish  chatter 
and  laughter,  when  the  wits  have  gone  astray  ;  ferocity,  which 
uses  the  knife  or  the  pistol  with  unsparing  hand ;  and  the 


FEANCIS    MURPHY.  553 

brutish  sleep,  which  expunges  the  last  semblance  of  man- 
hood. 

Read  the  newspaper  records  that  make  the  columns  of  the 
press  a  red  catalogue  of  crime  sickening  to  the  last  degree. 
How  often  does  the  eye  behold  such  a  story  of  wretched  sin 
as  this  : 

"A.  B.,  a  gentlemanly-looking  man,  entered  the  saloon  of 
John  Smith,  on  X.  street,  in  company  with  a  friend,  and  drank 
several  times  at  the  bar.  The  two  seemed  in  hilarious  good 
humor  and  on  the  firmest  terms  of  amity  with  each  other.  At 
last  A.  B.  became  quarrelsome  and  noisy.  His  friend,  fearing 
some  disturbance,  sought  to  persuade  him  to  go  home.  The  man, 
intoxicated  to  the  verge  of  £ury,  used  the  most  insulting  and 
opprobious  terms,  and  became  utterly  unmanageable.  His 
friend  took  him  by  the  arm  and  tried  to  lead  him  out  into  the 
street.  At  last  the  maniac,  raving  and  frothing  at  the  mouth, 
drew  a  dirk  and  drove  it  into  the  heart  of  the  unfortunate  man. 
He  was  arrested  by  the  police  and  lodged  in  the  city  prison  on 
the  charge  of  murder." 

Let  us  go  further  and  look  behind  the  curtain  in  this  typi- 
cal example.  A.  B.  was  a  man  doing  a  good  business,  happy 
in  his  social  and  family  relations.  Perhaps  he  left  home  with 
the  pure  kisses  of  a  devoted  wife  and  sweet  children  on  his 
lips,  to  be  gone  for  a  short  absence,  and  expecting  soon  to 
return  to  the  embraces  of  the  beloved  ones.  Hour  after  hour 
the  patient  wife  waits  for  the  return  of  her  husband.  At 
last  comes  the  thunderbolt  from  a  clear  sky.  The  partner  of 
her  being,  the  father  of  her  babes,  the  idol  of  her  heart,  is 
bolted  within  a  felon's  cell,  and  the  shadow  of  the  gibbet 
looms  up  in  the  distance.  At  one  dreadful  stroke,  the  happi* 
ness  of  a  household  is  shattered,  and  a  man  who  might  have 
been  an  ornament  of  life  made  into  an  accursed  wretch.  Such 
is  tld  3  work  of  the  demon,  alcohol. 

Is  this  called  an  exaggerated  example  ?  No  !  it  is  but  one 
of  many  such  instances  which  make  the  newspaper  reader  shud- 
der, for  it  is  being  constantly  repeated  with  variations  as  infinite 


554  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

as  the  complexities  of  human  life.  It  has  been  said  that  no  man 
becomes  bad  all  at  once,  but  only  by  slow  gradations  of  vice. 
It  is  the  exclusive  privilege  of  alcohol  and  its  brother  poisons 
to  have  the  power  in  many  cases  to  transform  the  good  man 
instantly  into  the  devil.  The  mad  Malay,  who  runs  amuck 
butchering  right  and  left  those  in  his  way,  has  brother  exam- 
ples in  more  civilized  regions.  But  even  more  general  unhap- 
piness  and  vice  is  caused  when  the  work  of  alcohol  is  more 
slow  than  in  the  instance  we  have  cited. 

The  victim  of  the  appetite  falls  from  bad  to  worse,  perhaps 
with  many  occasional  lapses  into  virtuous  resolutions,  which 
prove  too  weak  for  the  force  of  habit.  His  family  are 
deserted  and  ill-treated,  subjected  to  a  slow  torture  for  years. 
His  wife  fades  away  from  rosy  health  and  happiness  into  an 
attenuated,  sad-eyed  spectre,  and  his  children  become  ragged 
unkempt  gutter-snipes,  gamins  of  the  street,  with  an  almost  cer- 
tainty of  more  than  emulating  his  example.  He  finally  dies 
foretasting  hell,  in  the  sei*pent  evil  of  delirium  tremens.  Let  us 
not  laugh  lightly  at  these  things.  They  are  not  the  occasional 
cases,  which  shock  the  mild  philanthropist  as  he  ruminates  in 
his  easy  chair  into  saying  with  a  complacent  sigh  :  "  How  ter- 
rible, but  I  suppose  they  can't  be  helped,  for  human  nature  ib 
so  frail." 

No  !  these  are  but  citations  of  innumerable  facts  that  start 
us  in  the  face  in  every  street  of  a  great  city  ;  in  corner  grog- 
geries,  sown  as  thick  as  dragon's  teeth  ;  in  haggard  faces, 
bleary  eyes,  and  tattered  garments  ;  in  dilapidated  houses  and 
filthy  rookeries  ;  in  crowded  .court-houses  and  jails  ;  in  the 
unspeakable  squalor,  uncleanliness,  wretchedness,  blasphemy, 
sorrow  and  soul  damnation,  as  well  as  bodily  disease,  which 
make  whole  acres  of  great  cities  a  vast  lazar-house  of  sin  and 
horror.  The  imagination  can  hardly  over-paint  the  picture, 
and  the  pen  fails  to  find  words  to  encompass  the  dire  facts  in 
fitting  expression.  What  is  ordinarily  hyperbole  gets  shriv- 
eled into  weak  corpses  of  language  when  it  seeks  to  find  the 
fitting  terms. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY  555 

Yet  wide-spread  and  deep-seated  as  is  the  appetite  which 
wreaks  such  a  curse,  the  signs  of  the  time  are  hopeful.  The 
poet  Tennyson  sings  in  the  opening  stanza  of  "  In  Memo- 
riam  :" 

' '  I  hold  it  one  with  him  who  sings 
On  one  clear  harp  of  many  tones, 
That  man  may  rise  on  stepping-stones 
Of  his  dead  self  to  higher  things." 

The  sky  has  been  brightening  for  the  last  century,  and 
though  the  gleams  of  the  rosy,  auroral  morning  may  be  slow 
and  faint  in  their  increase,  they  are  clear  and  plain  to  the 
patient  watchman  on  the  battlements.  Let  us  compare  the 
present  century  with  the  past,  in  the  case  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
nations,  for  example.  Not  much  more  than  a  hundred  years 
ago  the  crime  of  intemperance  (for  in  view  of  its  awful  results 
it  becomes  more  than  a  vice),  was  so  much  the  rule  in  Great- 
Britain  that  the  peasant  was  an  habitual  sot.  Strong  ale  was 
as  free  in  every  cottage  as  water,  and  the  laborer,  the  miner, 
the  mechanic  welcomed  his  evening  at  the  pot-house  as  the 
pleasurable  part  of  his  hard  and  grinding  lot.  Every  village 
was  filled  with  paupers,  and  the  poor-house  crowded  to  excess. 
The  working  man  rarely  ended  his  day  without  being  at  least, 
somewhat  intoxicated.  Among  the  gentry  the  facts  were  even 
more  patent.  The  dinner  almost  uniformly  ended  in  debauch, 
and  the  three-bottle  man  was  honored  as  one  of  the  ornaments 
of  society.  Gentlemen  regarded  it  as  one  of  their  duties  to 
go  to  bed  reeling  drunk,  and  the  victor  in  a  protracted  revel, 
who  had  drunk  his  companions  under  the  table,  was  honored 
with  the  smiles  of  the  women,  the  approval  of  society,  and  the 
admiration  of  his  fellows.  From  the  topmost  to  the  lowest 
layers  of  society,  men,  and  oftentimes  women,  were  saturated 
through  and  through  with  the  love  of  and  demand  for  wine, 
gin  and  beer.  This  is  no  extreme  statement  of  the  historical 
fact.  Read  the  novels  of  a  century  since,  those  vivid  social 
pictures  of  men  and  women  as  they  were  in  all  ranks,  and  the 


556  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

moral  to  be  drawn  frightens  one  accustomed  even  to  the  sad 
truths  of  the  present  time. 

No  less  did  the  same  fact  hold  in  the  American  colonies, 
and  even  "after  the  establishment  of  the  republic.  North  and 
South  the  vice  was  a  paramount  social  custom,  and  ministers 
of  the  gospel  themselves  regarded  the  daily  use  of  stimulants 
as  not  only  excusable,  but  a  rational  and  proper  thing.  The 
laborer  in  the  fields  considered  his  employer  as  failing  in  his 
contract  unless  rum  was  furnished,  and  low  tipping-shops,  even 
in  those  days  of  cheap  liquor,  absorbed  the  earnings  of  the 
poor.  The  country  innkeeper  was  one  of  the  most  important 
functionaries  of  the  village,  without  whose  important  voice  no 
political  or  social  council  was  complete.  The  higher  classes 
paraded  a  battalion  of  decanters  on  their  sideboards,  and  the 
visitor  who  refused  to  drink  the  health  of  the  host  and  hostess 
was  branded  as  an  ill-bred  boor,  not  fit  for  polite  circles.  So 
the  habit  of  drinking  was  most  firmly  intrenched  in  the  hearts 
and  customs  of  the  community,  and  the  advocate  of  temper- 
ance was  looked  on  as  an  ignorant  fanatic,  not  even  to  be 
honored  with  serious  argument. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  the  present.  It  is  a  blessed  fact  that 
refined  people,  although  they  may  not  ignore  or  taboo  the  habit 
of  drinking,  regard  drunkenness  with  open  aversion  or  disgust. 
The  total  abstainer  is  regarded  with  esteem  and  admiration, 
even  if  his  example  be  not  emulated,  and  intoxication  is 
stamped  by  law  as  being,  not  only  not  a  palliation  of,  but 
adding  a  blacker  hue  to  the  wickedness  of  crime.  The 
sideboard,  loaded  with  its  glittering  burden  of  liquors  and 
wines,  is  no  longer  a  necessity  of  hospitality  ;  nay,  it  is  to-day 
the  rare  exception.  Society  sees  that  it  must  at  least  in  theory 
frown  on  the  alliance  of  the  drinking  habit  with  the  usages  of 
polite  life,  and  many  fashionable  assemblies  occur,  without 
the  host  thinking  it  necessary  to  furnish  wine  to  his  guests. 
The  New  Year's  festival  is  rapidly  emerging  from  the  blight 
and  disgrace,  which  a  few  years  ago  made  the  anniversary  sad 
and  ominous  in  spite  of  the  spirit  of  general  good  fellowship 


FRANCIS    MUEPHY.  557 

pervading  it  ;  and  now  the  rivalry  is  not  who  shall  make  the 
most  alluring  display  of  wines,  but  who  shall  furnish  the 
strongest  coffee  and  purest  lemonade  to  the  visitor. 

Above  all,  the  church  has  dissolved  its  unholy  alliance  with 
alcohol,  and  now  lifts  its  thunders,  its  pleadings,  and  persua- 
sions agaimst  the  use  of  liquor  in  any  form,  as  one  of  the  cry- 
ing evils  of  the  age.  The  ministers  of  God  are  no  longer 
tipplers,  and  advocates  of  what  is  called  with  tremendous  sar- 
casm rational  drinking,  but  practisers  as  well  as  preachers  of 
the  virtue  of  entire  abstinence.  Chemistry  and  physiology 
have  turned  their  powerful  lenses  on  the  scientific  side  of  the 
question  and  reiterated  with  telling  emphasis  the  indubitable 
fact  that  in  the  use  of  stimulants  man  has  nothing  to  expect 
but  breaking  down  of  body  and  brain.  These  are  eloquent 
signs  that  encourage  hope,  and  cheer  the  weary  laborer  in  the 
cause  of  reform.  The  change  is  slow  but  sure,  and  though  the 
disease  is  still  wide-spread,  deep-rooted,  and  sweeps  hundreds 
of  thousands  yearly  to  a  dishonored  grave,  the  spirit  of  God 
is  leavening  the  times  and  working  toward  a  mighty  victory. 

And  now,  what  has  caused  all  this  ?  The  answer  is  simple. 
The  moral  atmosphere  of  the  age  is  purer  and  stronger.  With 
the  increase  of  knowledge,  the  more  careful  study  of  social 
facts  and  statistics,  the  growing  tendency  of  the  age  to  refrain 
from  mere  theory  and  generalization,  and  grapple  with  details, 
there  has  come  to  be  a  solid  conviction  that  this  question  of 
drunkenness  is  one  of  the  terrible  problems  which  society  in 
very  self-protection  must  solve.  It  is  the  mythic  sphynx  with 
its  riddle  and  the  inflexible  alternative,  "  Explain  me  or  I  will 
destroy  you.'1  When  to  this  is  added  the  awakened  religious 
sense,  which  now  sees  the  truth  in  its  genuine  bearings,  we  can 
understand  why  the  signs  of  the  age  are  so  full  of  promise. 

The  traveler  in  our  newer  western  communities  has  often 
had  occasion  to  observe  the  following  fact.  During  the  early 
settlement,  the  country  is  infested  with  malarial  fever. 
Hardly  an  inhabitant  whose  sallow  face  and  chattering  teeth 
do  not  betoken  the  subtile  scourge  which  reeks  from  the 


S58  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

moist  black  soil,  and  the  prairie-sloughs.  After  a  while,  con« 
tinued  cultivation  and  drainage  dry  up  the  marshy  lands,  and 
the  warm  sunlight  permeates  through  the  earth,  constantly 
turned  up  with  plow  and  harrow.  At  last  the  poisonous  ma- 
laria is  destroyed  and  the  air  becomes  pure  and  healthy.  Com- 
munities pass  through  similar  experiences  in  a  moral  sense. 
The  swamps  of  ignorance  and  indifference  born  of  lack  of 
knowledge  must  be  drained,  before  the  moral  atmosphere  gets 
healthy. 

Side  by  side  with  this  tendency  to  investigate,  must  grow 
the  sense  of  necessity  for  investigation,  the  appreciation  of 
the  evil  as  it  exists.  The  heart  must  be  stirred  as  well  as  the 
intellect.  The  emotional  side  of  temperance  reform  is  one  of 
its  most  vital  elements.  It  is  like  the  steam  which  moves 
mighty  machinery.  The  illumination  of  knowledge  must  get 
its  primary  motive  from  some  fire  in  the  heart  and  soul.  It  is 
here  that  the  religious  element  links  itself  with  such  potency 
to  the  scientific  side  of  the  temperance  problem.  It  is  here 
that  the  eloquence  and  passion  of  the  orator  kindle  the  inert 
mass,  made  callous  and  heavy  by  long  habit  !  The  great  waves 
of  excitement,  which  so  often  sweep  the  land  in  connection 
with  religious  and  moral  movements,  are  essential  factors. 

It  is  too  much  the  tendency  of  those  who  pride  themselves 
on  being  rational  and  philosophic,  to  decry  what  are  called 
paroxysms.  The  formalist  sneers  at  the  Moody  and  Sankey 
revival  as  mere  blaze  without  permanent  fuel.  So,  too,  we 
hear  ridicule  of  such  a  magnificent  movement  as  the  Murphy 
Temperance  Reform  as  a  false  and  abnormal  thing,  whose 
effects  are  only  traced  in  the  fatal  reaction  which  follows  the 
high  tension  of  the  emotions  after  the  exciting  cause  has  ceased. 
Intelligent  men  in  viewing  things  in  this  light  fail  to  study 
essential  facts  in  human  nature.  Brain  must  have  the  stimulus 
of  heart,  and  unless  the  feelings  are  powerfully  moved,  it  is  in 
vain  either  in  the  case  of  the  individual  or  the  community  to 
expect  important  changes.  No  man  ever  reformed  himself,  as 
the  oyster  recreates  his  shell,  by  a  mere  law  of  vital  mechanism. 


FKANCIS    MUEPHY.  559 

Among  recent  phenomena  of  temperance  reform  there  is 
nothing  to  compare  in  intensity,  enthusiasm  and  sweep  with 
the  Francis  Murphy  movement,  whose  salient  features  it  is  the 
object  of  this  book  to  describe  in  succeeding  chapters.  It  had 
been  progressing  quietly  for  some  years  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  and  attained  but  little  more  than  local  celebrity. 
During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1876-'77  it  reached  Pittsburg, 
Pa.  Commencing  quietly,  it  grew  apace,  and  finally  culmi- 
nated in  one  of  those  extraordinary  uprisings  of  the  moral 
sense  which  sometimes  convulse  great  communities  as  with  an 
earthquake,  reaching  down  to  the  very  roots  of  society,  and 
effecting  results  in  a  short  time,  which  otherwise  many  years 
would  fail  to  achieve.  Mr.  Murphy  was  about  three  months 
in  Pittsburg,  and  during  that  time  the  astounding  number  of 
eighty  thousand  men  signed  the  pledge.  All  classes  of  society 
felt  the  impetus  of  the  Irish  reformer's  eloquence  and  enthusi- 
asm. Wealth  and  fashion  locked  hands  with  squalor  and  misery, 
and  in  the  Murphy  meetings,  night  after  night  could  be  seen 
silks,  diamonds  and  seal-skin  cloaks  rustling  on  the  same  seat 
with  the  rags  and  tatters  of  the  poor.  People  of  wealth  gave 
freely  of  their  abundance  to  advance  the  movement,  and  the 
milk  of  luiman  kindness  poured  freely  from  the  fountains 
unlocked  by  the  voice  of  the  temperance  orator.  This  was 
the  inaugural  point  of  Francis  Murphy's  celebrity,  and  since 
that  time  his  name  has  rung  from  one  end  of  the  land  to 
the  other  in  connection  with  the  great  cause  of  temperance 
reform.  The  next  great  field  of  his  efforts,  after  a  short  visit 
to  the  West,  was  Philadelphia,  were  six  weeks  of  labor  were 
attended  with  results  hardly  less  significant  and  extraordinary 
than  at  the  great  manufacturing  city  at  the  junction  of  the 
Alleghany  and  Monongahela  rivers.  Great  throngs  signed  the 
pledge  of  reform,  hundreds  of  saloon-keepers  among  them,  and 
the  hearts  of  innumerable  wives  and  mothers  made  glad.  But 
we  \rill  not  anticipate  the  fuller  description  of  the  Irish  orator's 
work  which  is  to  follow. 

The  name  of  Francis  Murphy  has  become  a  household  bless- 


560  THE  LIFE  AKD   WORK   OF 

ing  far  and  wid  3.  Its  sound  recalls  to  the  grateful  thoughts 
of  thousands  of  families  the  glad  day  which  commenced  the 
reconstruction  of  the  shattered  household  idols  ;  the  income 
of  sunlight,  happiness,  comfort  and  virtue,  where  before  all 
hopes  and  joys  had  been  blasted  by  the  demon  of  rum,  the  ex- 
traordinary and  unholy  passion,  which  takes  such  an  irresistible 
hold  on  men,  and  constitutes  one  of  the  great  curses  of  the 
race.  What  wonder,  then,  that  this  modern  apostle  is  named 
with  trembling  and  eager  blessing,  and  that  the  hearts  of  men 
and  women  turn  to  him  as  an  instrument  in  the  hands  of  Divine 
Providence  for  the  benefaction  of  his  fellows.  What  greater 
gift  could  he  give  them  than  give  them  back  themselves,  lost 
manhood,  the  hope  of  happiness  and  prosperity,  both  in  this 
world  and  in  the  world  to  come  ? 

The  personnel  of  a  man  like  Francis  Murphy  must  always 
be  a  matter  of  some  interest.  With  men  so  remarkable  there 
is  always  associated  something  intensely  individual,  for  what 
is  sometimes  called  personal  magnetism,  which  is  the  outcome 
of  a  fervent  temperament,  burning  faith,  and  devotion  to  a 
cause,  as  well  as  certain  peculiar  gifts  of  mind  and  person,  has 
been  a  most  potent  agent  in  his  mighty  work.  The  mind  un- 
consciously seeks  to  form  an  image  of  such  men,  and  shape 
them  to  the  imagination  as  living  presences,  standing  before 
us  in  all  the  dignity  of  native  manhood. 

Francis  Murphy  is  a  man  of  noble  physique,  graceful  in  his 
port  and  massive  in  frame.  A  well-developed  head  sets  closely 
on  his  neck,  which  rises  solidly  from  broad  and  heavy  shoul- 
ders. The  frame  of  the  orator,  as  is  generally  the  case  with 
men  of  exceptional  powers  of  eloquence,  is  strong  and  symmet- 
rical, and  indicates  a  well-balanced,  healthy,  powerful  nature. 
Full  of  vigor  and  activity  in  his  movements,  he  makes  an 
instant  and  favorable  impression  on  all  with  whom  he  comes 
in  contact.  Beneath  his  massive  and  bushy  eyebrows  there 
play  a  pair  of  piercing  gray  eyes,  that  send  their  glances  intos 
the  very  depths  of  the  soul.  Yet  they  are  full  of  kindliness 
and  sweetness,  and  the  face  is  lightened  by  a  genial,  friendly 


FHANCIS    MUKPHY.  561 

smile,  which   is   irresistible   in  drawing   the   regards   of  his 
fellows. 

His  features  are  prominent,  and  even  handsome.  A  large 
dark  moustache  falls  over  the  resolute  but  kindly  mouthj 
which,  when  smiling,  discloses  white  and  even  teeth.  The 
head  is  surmounted  with  iron-gray  hair,  giving  a  slightly  ven- 
erable appearance  to  the  face.  His  stature  is  about  five  feet 
ten  inches,  and  he  is  rather  stout,  weighing  nearly  two  hundred 
pounds. "  This  is  a  hasty  physical  description  of  what  may  be 
called  a  man  of  unusually  fine  physique,  but  it  utterly  fails  to 
convey  a  full  impression  of  the  man  himself — only  of  his  outer 
shell  or  envelope,  through  which  the  illuminating  power  of  the 
soul  shines  with  splendid  radiance.  His  eyes  and  his  purse 
have  never  been  found  shut  to  the  appeal  of  human  woe  and 
suffering.  A  generous  heart,  overflowing  with  love,  sympathy, 
and  charity,  beats  in  every  pulse  and  radiates  from  the  face. 
He  unites  a  clear  head,  keen  perceptions,  and  an  almost  unerr- 
ing judgment.  When  to  these  are  added  an  intuitive  knowl- 
edge of  human  nature,  and  a  passionate  enthusiasm,  we  get 
some  clue  to  the  secret  of  his  power.  His  work  is  a  labor  of 
love,  and  he  has  become  its  champion  and  standard-bearer. 

The  affectionate,  sympathetic  nature  of  this  truly  good  man 
is  overflowing  with  desires  to  benefit  his  fellow-men.  His 
earnest  appeals  come  right  from  the  heart,  and  his  words,  at 
times,  flow  so  smoothly  and  are  so  full  of  conviction  that  they 
seem  to  be  inspirational.  Truly  has  it  been  said  of  him,  that 
the  eloquent  language  flows  from  him  like  a  mighty  stream  of 
sparkling  water  gushing  from  a  great  fountain.  Being  saved 
himself  from  a  drunkard's  fate,  the  fascinating  recital  of  his 
redemption  never  fails  to  aAvaken  the  warmest  sympathies  of 
man's  nature,  and  encourage  the  consumers  of  strong  drink  to 
pause  and  consider  whither  they  are  drifting.  So  persuasive, 
so  earnest,  so  sincere  is  he,  that  he  captures  the  drinkers  by 
scores  and  hundreds.  Taking  them  by  the  hand,  he  gives  such 
a  genuine,  hearty  shake  as  he  says,  "Brother,  let  us  have  your 
name  to  the  pledge,"  that  few  can  resist  his  earnest  appeal. 
24 


562  THE   LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

His  very  presence  inspires  confidence  and  a  desire  to  forswear 
forever  all  intoxicating  drinks.  Wherever  he  has  labored,  his 
work  has  been  blessed  as  the  work  of  no  other  temperance  lec- 
turer before  him  ever  was  blessed.  The  people  say  God-speed 
to  him,  and  sustain  him  in  the  good  work.  Within  the  past 
year  he  has  caused  a  great,  peaceful,  and  beneficial  revolution 
in  this  portion  of  the  State. 

It  is  not  in  his  eloquent  oratory  alone  that  he  makes  his 
greatness  and  his  usefulness  felt.  He  seeks  to  save  his  fellow- 
man  through  impressing  the  fallen  that  there  is  hope  for  them 
— that  while  a  man  is  willing  to  help  himself,  others  stand 
ready  to  aid  him.  His  appeals  so  pleasantly  made  are  irresist- 
ible. His  very  experience,  sad  as  it  has  been,  has  contributed 
to  his  eloquence  and  success,  the  one  being  inseparable,  if  not 
identical,  with  the  other. 

Then,  too,  his  method  of  securing  the  aid  of  reformed  men 
as  active  co-laborers,  is  something  that  has  added  much  to  his 
effectiveness.  But  of  this  we  will  say  nothing  further  at  pres- 
ent, for  we  started  out  to  describe  the  personnel  of  the  man, 
rather  than  to  dwell  upon  the  methods  which  he  so  successfully 
employs  in  his  ministrations.  We  now  pass  on  to  his  youthful 
days,  and  as  the  reader  progresses  through  the  pages  of  this 
book  he  will  find  much  of  absorbing  interest  in  the  life  of  one 
of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest,  of  revivalists  the  world  haa 
ever  known. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  563 


CHAPTER  H. 

THE   EAKLY   LIFE    OF    FRANCIS   MUBPHT    IN    OLD    IRELAND. — HIS 

DEPASTURE  FOR  AND  SETTLEMENT   IN    AMERICA. HE  FINALLY 

OPENS    A    HOTEL   AND    COMMENCES    THE    LIQUOR   TRAFFIC     IN 

PORTLAND,  ME. TRIAL    AND    ACQUITTAL    ON   THE    CHARGE    OF 

MURDER. 

FRANCIS  MURPHY  saw  the  glad  light  of  life  on  the  24th  of 
April,  1836,  in  the  town  of  Wexford,  county  Wexford,  Ireland. 
He  sprang  from  the  Irish  peasantry.  A  short  while  before  his 
birth  his  father  expired,  leaving  the  mother  in  poor  circum- 
stances ;  so  he  was  ushered  into  the  world  under  rather  a 
gloomy  aspect.  His  home  was  most  charmingly  and  pictur- 
esquely situated.  It  was  a  thatched  cottage,  of  course,  for 
these  structures  are  altogether  inhabited  by  the  poor  of  lovely 
Erin.  It  stood  on  a  slight  elevation,  not  pronounced  enough 
to  be  dignified  as  a  hill ;  and  faced  the  ocean,  that  is,  the 
harbor  of  Wexford,  which  connects  the  Atlantic  and  the  Irish 
Sea.  A  small  path  of  gravel  led  up  to  the  door,  and  on  either 
side  of  the  path  was  a  bit  of  garden-land,  all  aglow  with  the 
beauty  of  mother  Earth's  fair  offspring.  In  the  distance 
loomed  the  gray  rocks  that  ran  out  to  greet  the  foaming 
channel,  and  on  one  side  the  smiling  hills  of  green. 

Francis  Murphy  lived  his  quiet  life  here.  Surely  the  loveli- 
ness of  his  birth-place  must  have  helped  to  mould  so  beautiful 
a  nature  as  his  ;  helped  to  bring  him  intimately  to  God.  In 
the  subsequent  dark  and  dreadful  periods  of  his  life  the  charm- 
ing scene  must  have  flashed  before  his  mind's  eye  and  aroused 
the  slumbering  conscience  in  his  breast. 


564  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

The  Murphys  were,  and  always  had  been  Roman  Catholics. 
Airs.  Murphy  M*as  earnest  and  steadfast  in  her  religious  princi- 
ples, and  endeavored  to  instill  them  in  the  minds  of  her 
children. 

The  peasants  of  Ireland  are  obliged  to  work  hard  to  keep 
the  wolf  from  the  door.  This  labor  is  incessant,  and  they 
know  little  rest,  little  pleasure,  and  little  comfort.  The  Mur- 
phys were  not  exceptions.  They  shared  the  common  lot  with 
with  their  neighbors.  They  were  literally  tillers  of  the  soil, 
earning  their  humble  substance  by  the  very  sweat  of  their 
brow. 

Our  hero  has  mentioned  in  one  of  his  addresses  the  fact  that 
after  having  gleaned  in  the  harvest  field,  he  was  obliged  to 
carry  the  grain  into  the  cottage,  and  there  thrash  it  out  on  the 
floor  while  the  world  at  large  was  fast  asleep. 

Despite  the  lack  of  this  world's  goods  the  Irish  are  prone  to 
hospitality.  They  love  to  gather  their  friends  about  them  and 
have  a  pleasant  time.  This  trait  is  widely  known  and  com- 
mended. The  Murphys  were  not  so  destitute  but  they  could 
occasionally  get  up  an  entertainment  for  their  friends.  In- 
deed, this  was  a  courtesy  expected  and  demanded  from  one  to 
another,  and  must  be  observed,  if  the  good  will  and  esteem  of 
the  neighbors  were  desired.  To  let  the  twelve  months  go  by 
without  once  gathering  your  friends  together,  and  having  a 
little  feast,  was  regarded  a  shabby  trick,  in  fact  an  insult  to 
the  whole  neighborhood.  And  in  an  appropriate  fashion  the 
neighborhood  would  revenge  itself  and  outraged  dignity  upon 
yourself,  children,  even  for  months  and  months.  Describing 
this  hospitality,  Mr.  Murphy  said  : 

"  Public  dinners  were  popular  in  the  old  country ;  and, 
though  we  could  not  afford  them,  our  friends  would  be  invited 
sometimes,  because  my  mother  thought  it  would  be  considered 
mean  if  she  did  not  invite  them.  I  enjoyed  those  days  on 
which  the  friends  would  come  to  be  feasted  at  the  little  home. 
A  ad  the  table  might  groan  beneath  the  luxuries,  unless  there 
was  liquor  upon  it  something  seemed  needed  for  the  occasion. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  5C5 

"It  has  been  the  fashion  in  my  country,  irom  time  inline- 
morial,  to  have  liquor  on  the  table  ;  and  it  is  thus  that  a  great 
many  young  men  have  been  brought  into  the  habit  of  drink- 
ing, resulting  in  the  course  of  time,  in  their  disgrace  and 
shame. 

"I  remember  when  the  table  was  spread,  and  all  the 
arrangements  made,  how  I  was  allowed  to  come  into  the 
room  and  see  it.  This  white  Irish  linen  cover  and  the  little 
china  tea-cups,  with  a  gilt  rim  around  the  edge,  looked  beauti- 
ful upon  it.  I  remember,  that  when  I  only  touched  one  of  the 
cups  it  would  seem  to  sing  like  a  bird.  I  could  see  all  the  large 
raisins  in  the  cake  ;  and  it  was  with  difficulty  I  could  keep  my 
fingers  from  them.  Of  course,  I  knew  that  if  I  touched 
them  my  mother  would  stir  me  up. 

"  When  you  have  a  feast  in  this  country  the  children  are 
brought  into  the  room  and  are  introduced  to  the  friends.  In 

O 

my  country  the  youngsters  are  huddled  into  the  kitchen. 
This  was  a  part  of  our  entertainments  I  did  not  like.  My 
mother,  when  everything  was  ready,  would  call  me  aside  and 
say,  '  Come  here,  be  a  good  boy,  keep  perfectly  still,  go 
straight  out  of  this,  and  make  no  noise.'  Thus,  I  remember 

O  -    *  * 

being  turned  out  into  the  kitchen,  and  how  my  hand  doubled 
in  perfect  indignation.  I  can  yet  feel  the  scalding  tears  as  I 
paced  back  and  forth. 

"  There  is  no  pleasant  remembrance  about  this  treatment. 
Don't  ask  your  friends  to  come  to  your  house  at  the  expense 
of  your  children.  If  there  are  no  chairs,  so  that  they  can  be 
seated  at  the  table,  I  suggest,  that  the  old  folks  go  out  and 
wait  until  the  children  have  eaten. 

"  On  the  occasion  referred  to  I  kept  walking  back  and  forth 
in  great  restlessness.  Often  I  came  to  the  door  and  put  my 
ear  to  it  that  I  might  in  some  way  enjoy  the  laughter  and 
talking.  There  was  a  little  latch  across,  and  it  would  open  if 
it  was  touched.  Finally  patience  ceased  to  be  a  virtue,  and 
the  latch  was  touched,  whereupon  the  door  opened.  At  this, 
some  of  the  friends  noticed  me,  and  beckoned  me  to  come  into 


566  THE   LIFE  AND  WORK   OF 

the  room.  I  entered  very  cautiously,  for  if  my  dear  mother 
had  caught  me  she  would  have  sent  me  back.  The  friends 
had  gotten  through  eating  and  were  quite  merry  over  their 
drink. 

"  Much  has  been  said  about  the  Irish  people  drinking  intox- 
icating liquor ;  but,  if  you  were  accustomed  to  the  ways  in 
old  Ireland,  you  would  say  very  little  about  it.  If  half  a 
dozen  friends  met  together  they  had  to  have  a  drop  of  the 
crater,  of  course  ;  they  couldn't  get  along  without  it.  A  man 
would  be  considered  mean  unless  he  had  it  on  special  occasions 
upon  his  table  ;  and  no  man  likes  to  be  called  stingy.  There 
is  something  fascinating  to  an  Irishman  in  the  thought  that  he 
is  a  liberal  man,  and  that  his  friends  will  say  of  him  :  '  I 
would  like  to  repeat  my  visit  to  his  house  ;  what  beautiful 
whiskey  ;  what  splendid  wine  ;  it  was  glorious.' 

"My  friend  would  take  his  glass  in  his  hand  ;  he  was  a  dear 
friend  of  our  family  ;  and,  adding  a  little  water  to  the  whis- 
key, would  place  it  in  my  hand  as  I  stood  by  his  side.  I 
remember  of  my  looking  up  in  his  face  and  sipping  it  from  a 
teaspoon.  Thus  I  first  learned  to  love  the  taste  of  liquor.  It 
was  there  the  appetite  was  first  formed.  It  was  there  the  seeds 
of  intemperance  were  sown  which  cursed  and  made  a  wreck  of 
me  thousands  of  miles  from  my  native  land. 

"  In  justice  to  the  memory  of  my  beloved  mother — who  loved 
me  as  affectionately  as  your  parents  have  loved  you — I  will 
say,  there  is  a  way  that  seemeth  right  to  many  of  us,  but  the 
end  thereof  is  death." 

There  was  scarcely  any  time,  and  very  little  opportunity  in- 
deed, to  think  of  or  to  obtain  education  among  the  Murphys. 
In  the  first  instance,  each  member  was  obliged  to  toil  to  earn 
his  bread  ;  and  in  the  second,  their  religion  debarred  them  en- 
tirely from  the  national  schools.  Dilatory  opportunities  were 
given  by  the  priests  in  the  several  parishes  to  learn  how  to 
read  and  write,  somewhat  indifferently,  it  must  be  admitted. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  education — of  a  certain  sort — and  Francis 
Murphy  eagerly  embraced  the  opportunity,  and  applied  himself 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  567 

with  an  earnest,  steadfast  will  to  learn  all  he  could — a  most 
noble  characteristic,  in  truth,  which  glowingly  marked  the 
future  years  of  gloiy  for  him  to  live. 

There  are  some  things  that  live  in  the  mind  forever,  defying 
the  kind  touch  of  Time,  who  soothes,  mellows  and  eases  our- 
selves, thoughts  and  actions,  having  power  to  upset  our  repose 
and  make  us  wretched.  A  blow,  a  harsh  word,  a  look,  an  act, 
— little  things  in  themselves,  but  powerful  enough  to  render  us 
in  our  turn  cold  and  unforgiving. 

Francis  Murphy  had  been  soundly  flogged  by  the  priest  for 
some  fault.  It  was  no  slight  punishment.  It  was  as  severe  as 
it  possibly  could  be.  It  was  inflicted  before  the  whole  little 
band  of  scholars,  and  was  dreadful  disgrace  to  him,  his  being  a 
most  loving,  gentle  and  sensitive  disposition. 

It  lived  in  his  mind  always.  He  always  felt  he  had  been 
most  shamefully  dealt  with,  and  he  often  alluded  to  it  in  his 
speeches  as  a  wrong  which  he  could  not  forget,  and  which  for 
a  number  of  years  he  could  not  forgive. 

The  lad's  youth  was  one  perpetual  longing  for  a  greater  life 
than  that  before  him  in  Wexford,  a  vague  longing  for  the 
world  beyond  the  shining  sea  that  stretched  before  his  home. 
Every  time  a  vessel  passed  by  on  its  way  to  other  shores,  the 
same  wish  would  rise  up  in  his  heart,  and  would  make  him  im- 
patient for  the  time  when  he  might  go  away.  He  had  heard, 
as  far  back  as  he  could  recollect,  wondei'ful  stories  of  America, 
the  strange  sights  to  be  seen  there,  and  the  marvelous  success 
men  made  there  after  leaving  poor,  oppressed  Ireland.  What 
blessed  future  might  be  his,  were  he  only  in  America  !  What 
new  worlds  of  happiness,  what  scenes  of  novelty  and  delight ! 

When  he  was  able  to  support  himself  a  position  was  found 
under  his  mother's  landlord,  who  possessed  an  old  castle  in  the 
vicinity.  There  was  nothing  in  the  situation  to  please  him, 
«ind  everything  to  revolt  him.  He  was  sensitive,  ambitious, 
and  of  a  highly-strung  constitution  ;  and  his  being  a  servant, 
was  rather  a  source  of  pain  than  otherwise.  He  was  more  than 
willing,  in  fact  eager  to  help  in  supporting  the  family  ;  and  the 


568  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

small  wages  the  landlord  rewarded  him  with  were  of  great  ser- 
vice to  his  mother.  However,  he  could  not  reconcile  himself 
to  his  fate.  He  endeavored  to  endure  it  patiently.  His  master 
was  a  true  devotee  to  King  Alcohol  ;  but  when  he  was  sober 
Francis  was  a  quiet,  deferential  servant,  and  when  he  was  in- 
toxicated the  boy  shared  the  cup  with  him,  becoming  his  com- 
panion and  equal.  His  family  felt  the  dangers  that  surrounded 
him,  and  suffered  great  anxiety  on  his  account.  The  longing 
for  a  new  life  grew  with  his  growth,  and  urged  him  onward. 
Even  in  the  hours  of  severe  labor  the  thought  would  rush 
through  him,  making  him  pause,  stand  still  and  look,  with  his 
hands  shading  his  eyes,  at  the  smiling  waves  into  the  misty 
distance.  At  last  the  inward  voice  found  relief  in  impetuous 
speech.  He  confided  in  his  mother.  He  unfolded  all  his  plans, 
ideas  and  desires,  and  pointed  out  the  benefits  to  be  gained  by 
his  departure.  Naturally  she  discouraged  him.  She  spoke  of 
the  manifold  dangers  in  store  for  him  should  he  go,  the  many 
pitfalls  for  his  inexperienced  feet,  and  the  ordeals  through 
which  he  would  be  forced  to  pass.  Was  he  equal  to  the  under- 
taking ?  Was  he  sure  of  himself,  and  of  his  powers  of  endur- 
ance ?  Was  he  willing  to  run  all  the  risks,  and  brave  the 
overwhelming  uncertainty  of  success?  He  had  reached  his 
sixteenth  year,  and  in  his  own  estimation  he  was  a  man. 
What  dangers  would  brave  sixteen-year-old  not  face  ?  One  is 
not  so  easily  frightened  at  that  sunny  age  ;  one  is  willing,  nay, 
anxious  to  rush  out,  unarmed,  unprepared  in  any  way,  and 
grapple  with  all  the  evils  known  to  man,  with  the  noble  desii'e 
to  kill  them,  each  and  all.  He  was  ready  to  go  to  America,  if 
his  dear,  good,  kind  mother  would*  only  say  yes  to  it.  She 
could  not  say  it.  And  besides  how  could  he  go — had  he  the 
wherewithal  ?  How  bright  his  face  grew  at  that  !  He  even 
laughed  a  low,  happy  laugh  !  She  looked  in  his  bonnie  face, 
with  a  ray  of  despair  in  her  aged  eyes.  She  knew,  instinctively 
that  he  was  going,  that  her  hold  on  him  had  been  severed  for- 

O  O' 

ever.  To  tell  him  not  to  go  now- would  be  useless,  like  com- 
manding the  breezes  to  cease,  or  the  blue  waves  laughing  out 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  569 

• 

in  the  gay  sunlight  to  be  motionless.  While  ahe  realized  that 
he  was  going,  he  told  her  an  excellent  chance  had  turned  up  in 
his  favor,  and  that  all  he  wanted  now  was  her  consent  and 
blessing  on  the  venture.  "  I  shall  never  forget,"  Mr.  Murphy 
has  often  said,  when  describing  this  most  momentous  period  in 
his  life,  "  my  mother's  countenance,  when  I  looked  into  her 
face,  and  presented  my  request.  Dear  soul,  she  could  hardly 
speak  to  me.  Her  eyes  quickly  filled  up,  and  her  lips  parted 
so  strangely.  She  said,  '  Yes,  I  think  it  will  be  best  for  you 
to  gc,  my  boy.' "  The  only  request  she  made  was  that  he 
should  spend  his  last  week  in  Erin  at  home  with  her.  This 
was  most  readily  and  gladly  granted.  In  speaking  of  this 
time  of  his  eventful  life,  while  addressing  the  public,  he  said  : 

"  I  never  shall  forget  that  week.  I  can  see  my  mother  going 
backward  and  forward  through  the  house.  Her  time  was 
chiefly  spent  in  making  the  needful  preparations,  and  packing 
up  for  me.  And  when  she  would  lift  up  the  clothes  and  look 
at  them,  I  could  see  the  tears  running  down  her  cheeks.  She 
would  look  at  me  awhile,  as  if  in  deep  thought  and  solicitude, 
and  then  silently  walk  away.  I  thank  God  for  the  memory  of 
that  week  at  home.  It  has  been  a  great  blessing  to  me.  I  was 
only  sixteen  years  of  age,  yet,  blessed  be  God,  the  memory  of 
that  home,  that  face,  and  that  voice,  is  still  fresh  and  sweet  in 
my  heart. 

"And  then,  the  last  night  came  before  I  was  to  leave.  It 
was  the  custom  in  old  Ireland,  when  a  man  was  passing  his  last 
night  at  home,  to  send  for  his  friends.  But  mother  said,  'My 
son,  I  should  like  to  be  alone  with  you  this  last  night.'  There 
was  no  person  invited.  My  trunk  was  partly  packed,  and  there 
were  some  clothes  placed  upon  the  bureau  alongside  of  my 
trunk.  My  mother  said  to  me,  '  Get  your  chair  and  sit  with  me 
here  to-night.'  And  she  took  her  seat  by  the  table,  with  her 
head  resting  upon  her  hand.  Sometimes  she  would  lift  up  her 
head  and  look  into  my  face,  and  then  drop  it  down  upon  her 
bosom,  and  place  her  hands  across  her  breast.  I  could  see  her 
struggle  to  control  her  grief.  We  sat  there  until  it  was  one 


670  THE    LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

» 

o'clock  at  night,  and  I  don't  think  there  were  twenty  words 
spoken  between  us.  Mother  finally  arose  from  her  chair  and 
said  to  me,  '  My  son,  I  think  I  will  try  and  finish  packing  your 
trunk.'  Never  shall  I  forget  that  voice,  as  she  arose  from  the 
chair.  She  spoke  so  strangely.  She  walked  over  to  where  the 
trunk  was,  looked  into  it,  and  then  reached  over  to  the  clothes 
on  the  bureau,  and  placed  them  in  it.  She  smoothed  them 
down  with  great  care.  When  the  last  garment  was  placed  in 
it,  it  was  all  the  dear  soul  could  do  to  stand  up  again.  After- 
ward, she  raised  up  from  her  stooping  position  over  the  trunk, 
and  walking  to  the  window  watched  for  the  carriage  that  was 
to  come  for  her  boy.  When  I  was  ready  to  start,  mother  stood 
with  her  back  to  me,  and  I  could  see  her  trembling. 

"  I  had  not  yet  received  her  blessing.  It  was  really  about 
all  she  could  give  me,  dear  soul.  You  can  hardly  find  a  coun- 
tryman of  mine  in  America  who  would  not  prize  his  mother's 
blessing.  I  think  sometimes  Americans  do  not  value  the  paren- 
tal blessing  enough.  For  my  mother  to  put  her  hand  on  my 
head,  and  say,  '  God  bless  you,'  was  a  great  deal  to  me.  I 
arose  from  my  seat  and  walked  up  to  where  mother  was,  and 
putting  my  arms  about  her  neck,  said,  'Mother,  now  give  me 
your  blessing  before  I  part  from  you.'  I  then  knelt  at  her  f eet> 
and  she,  placing  her  loving  hand  upon  my  head,  said,  'May  the 
blessing  of  God  go  with  you  ;  and  may  you  remember,  my  dear 
boy,  that  the  same  sun  that  shines  on  me  shines  on  you  ;  that 
the  same  God  that  is  watching  over  us  in  our  humble  home, 
will  care  for  you  in  a  strange  country  ;  and,  oh  !  may  you  not 
forget  your  mother." 

It  was  a  long,  tedious  and  unpleasant  trip  ;  but  the  thoughts 
that  lived  in  Francis  Murphy's  brain  flew  onward,  and  made 
the  time  less  irksome  for  him.  Lovely  castles,  standing  in 
radiant  gardens,  stretched  before  his  mind's  eye  in  dazzling 
glory,  dispelling  the  discomforts  and  hardships  of  an  emigrant 
vessel,  and  making  the  weary  journey  of  seven  weeks'  duration 
merely  a  little  jaunt  of  no  importance.  Finally  the  spires  and 
high  house-tops  of  New  York  rose  on  the  horizon.  How  the 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  571 

boy's  heart  swelled  at  the  sight  !  At  last  the  land  of  his  choice 
was  reached  !  The  emigrants  quickly  left  the  steamer.  Fran- 
cis was  met  by  a  pleasant-looking  gentleman,  who  offered  most 
kindly  to  show  him  to  a  nice  hotel.  Giving  him  the  checks, 
he  went  along  with  him,  talking  brightly  as  he  went.  They 
reached  an  inn,  and  here  found  comfortable  rooms  and  "  some- 
thing to  take,"  of  which  our  young  friend  partook  rather  too 
freely.  He  treated  every  one  in  the  room  to  drink  after 
drink.  Seven  days  he  kept  up  a  continual  drinking  and  treat- 
ing, and  then  he  discovered  that  he  was  without  a  single  penny. 
This  aroused  him  somewhat  to  his  situation.  The  landlord 
found  he  had  spent  all  he  had,  and  he  was  forthwith  compelled 
to  quit  the  inn,  and  find  other  quarters,  if  he  possibly  could. 

Homeless,  friendless,  and  moneyless !  What  a  frightful 
condition  to  be  in  !  Did  he  turn  his  back  to  the  tempter,  and 
endeavor  to  retrieve  what  he  had  lost  ?  No.  He  still  kept  up 
his  course  of  inebriety  until  every  thing  he  had  ever  possessed 
was  gone.  In  this  strait  he  became  sober,  and  conscious  of 
his  degradation.  The  prospect  was  gloomy  in  the  extreme — 
dark  and  threatening  without  the  faintest  ray  of  light  to  shew 
him  the  way.  Depressed  and  alarmed  he  sought,  day  in  and 
day  out,  something  to  do.  He  succeeded  in  procuring  employ- 
ment after  very  many  disheartening  attempts.  He  entered  on 
his  work  with  joy  and  zeal.  It  would  be  an  easy  matter  now 
to  replace  all  he  had  lost,  and  to  put  him  in  an  agreeable 
position.  He  calculated  beyond  his  strength.  The  voice  of 
the  tempter  was  too  strong  for  him  to  resist,  and  the  appetite 
for  drink  demanded  gratification.  He  could  not  hold  out  a 
long  time  ;  he  was  obliged  to  submit  to  the  passion  at  last. 

It  was,  after  a  while,  useless  to  remain  in  New  York,  so  he 
made  up  his  mind  to  go  to  Quebec,  Canada.  Fickle  fortune 
seemed  wary,  and  did  not  attend  him.  He  met  with  failure  in 
every  attempt  he  made  while  in  Quebec,  and  was  finally  com- 
pelled, after  his  funds  were  nearly  exhausted,  to  leave  there. 
He  did  not  have  sufficient  money  to  pay  his  way  to  the  States, 
but  enough  to  take  him  to  Montreal.  Here  he  found  work  for 


572  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

the  time  being,  in  a  hotel.  He  kept  his  place  in  the  hotel  for 
a  few  years.  His  habits  of  intemperance  drove  him  from  this 
employment ;  and  instead  of  seeking  other  work  in  Canada  he 
returned  to  New  York,  hoping  there  to  redeem  his  honor  and 
manhood  from  the  low  depths  into  which  both  had  fallen.  He 
found  Avork  on  a  farm  in  NCAV  York  State.  It  was  hard,  out- 
door life,  and  he  enjoyed  it  Avith  zest,  working  steadily  all  the 
time.  After  many  attempts,  the  difficulty  of  which  is  almost 
impossible  to  realize  or  comprehend,  unless,  dear  reader,  you 
have  been  in  the  same  predicament  yourself,  he  subdued  his 
desire,  his  intense  craving  for  drink. 

"  I  was  compelled  to  learn  the  profession  of  driving  oxen  on 
a  farm,"  he  said  on  a  certain  occasion,  with  his  peculiarly 
SAveet  and  brightening  smile,  "  and  as  a  green  Irish  boy,  Avith 
a  goad  in  hand,  I  learned  so  talk  to  Buck  and  Bright.  I  have 
seen  a  man  laugh  at  me  while  I  was  chopping  a  maple  log.  I 
was  cutting  away  at  a  great  rate,  and  thought  I  was  doing 
splendidly,  but  every  time  I  struck  the  log  he  Avould  shout  and 
laugh  at  me." 

•He  went  further  into  the  interior  of  the  State.  His  life 
from  this  point  Avas  sober  and  right  in  every  respect.  It  was 
here  he  met  a  generous,  noble,  and  lovely  girl,  with  Avhom  he 
fell  desperately  in  love.  He  longed  to  marry  her,  to  live  for 
her  aloue.  Strange  and  delightful  emotions  now  had  posses- 
sion of  him,  never  in  all  his  life  had  he  felt  as  he  HOAV  did. 
There  seemed  to  be  one  ray  of  light  for  him,  and  it  centered 
only  in  this  girl.  There  seemed  to  be  but  one  life  worth  liv- 
ing, and  that  was  by  her  side.  His  present  existence  appeared 
colorless,  unworthy,  empty,  unsatisfactory.  He  yearned  to 
change  it.  He  did  change  it.  The  gentle  girl  had  learned  to 
love  her  bold,  impetuous,  her  handsome,  stalwart  lover.  She 
consented  to  be  his  wife.  He  had  just  reached  his  eighteenth 
year,  when  he  enveloped  himself  with  the  trials,  responsibili- 
ties and  felicities  of  marital  life.  The  years  that  noAV  stretched 
before  him  Avere  full  of  promise.  Everything  devolved  upon 
himself.  His  own  happiness  Avas  in  his  hands,  to  make  or  to 


FEAKCIS    MURPHY.  573 

mar.  He  fully  realized  that  the  future  must  be  steady  and 
industrious  toil,  for  now  there  rose  others  to  be  cared  for,  and 
self  had  slipped  almost  unperceived  from  out  of  his  life.  Six 
years,  happy,  quiet  and  contented  years,  went  gently  by. 
Francis  Murphy  developed  into  a  happy  father  and  husband, 
an  energetic  worker,  an  upright,  esteemed,  beloved  man. 
His  wife  proved  herself  one  of  the  best,  kindest,  and  truest 
helpmeets  a  man  ever  was  blessed  with.  She  proved  herself  a 
true  Christian,  a  most  faithful  follower  in  the  Divine  footprints 
that  alone  lead  us  to  our  heavenly  home.  She  it  was  who 
made  Francis  Murphy  what  he  nowT  was — a  sober  and  successful 
man.  She  was  always  his  adviser,  counselor  and  friend.  Pie 
did  not  withhold  anything  from  her  ;  but  rather  sought  her 
sympathy  and  advice  in  all  he  undertook  to  do.  Her  influence 
on  him  was  very  great,  even  unbounded  ;  and  he  loved  her 
with  all  the  fervor  of,  perhaps,  one  of  the  largest,  most  feeling 
hearts  of  the  present  time.  He  has  touchingly  spoken  of  her 
in  his  addresses  to  the  people,  not  directly,  but  in  an  indirect 
way  that  proves  in  what  light  he  regarded  her  presence  at  his 
side,  and  the  influence  she  had  over  him.  On  one  occasion  he 
said,  with  a  gush  of  feeling  and  power  that  surprised  the  vast 
assemblage  before  him  : 

"  If  you  have  a  good,  Christian  wife,  consult  her  in  all  your 
business.  Give  her  to  feel  that  she  is  a  partner  in  life  with 
you,  that  you  are  to  work  together,  and  believe  in  each  other, 
come  what  will.  Hearts  thus  joined  together  by  God's  Holy 
Spirit,  nothing  should  separate.  There  is  no  difliculty  they 
cannot  surmount,  no  obstacle  they  cannot  overcome.  With 
faith  in  each  other,  and  faith  in  God,  they  will  come  through 
all  right," 

The  quiet  and  peaceful  flow  of  their  country  existence  was 
disturbed  by  the  advent  of  one  of  Francis  Murphy's  brothers, 
who  did  all  in  his  power  to  persuade  him  to  branch  out  into 
the  great  world  again.  Every  one  in  the  little  family  was 
wiping  to  go,  and,  after  many  consultations,  they  agreed  to  go 
to  Portland,  Maine,  and  settle  there. 


574  LIFE  AND  WOKK  OP 

The  brothers  determined  to  run  a  hotel  here.  This  enter- 
prise promised  them  a  profitable  return.  Francis'  heart,  how- 
ever, failed  him  when  he  thought  of  his  dear  wife  and  her  views 
as  regards  a  public-house  life,  and  the  results  of  such  a  business. 
As  he  expected  she  opposed  the  venture  strongly.  She  told 
him  she  was  against  the  business  and  would  always  be  so  ;  for 
she  feared  everything  from  it,  and  she  could  have  no  ease  of 
mind,  no  pleasure  should  he  embrace  it.  She  dreaded  to  see 
him  placed  in  a  position  fraught  with  so  many  dangers  for 
him.  What  if  the  old  demon  of  drink  should  enter  his  breast 
again  ?  She  thought  of  her  little  ones,  herself  and  himself, 
and  said  she  could  never  consent  to  it.  "  I  would  sooner  beg 
for  a  living  in  the  streets  of  Portland,  than  to  have  you  sell 
intoxicating  liquors,"  she  said,  looking  him  earnestly  in  the 
face.  He  knew  she  felt  and  meant  what  she  said,  and  nothing 
could  ever  alter  his  opinion  in  regard  to  the  business  he  was 
about  to  enter.  He  did  not  feel  as  she  did,  but  he  would  not 
oppose  her.  He  would  act  alone.  If  harm  came  of  it  he 
would  be  to  blame,  not  she.  As  he  said  in  one  of  his 
speeches : 

"  I  consulted  her  out  of  courtesy,  and  if  she  did  not  indorse 
my  way,  I  pursued  it  all  the  same.  I  never  saw  a  man  have 
occasion,  in  the  end,  to  regret  having  consulted  his  wife.  Men 
engaged  in  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquor  do  not,  in  general, 
consult  their  wives.  They  think  they  are  capable  of  managing 
their  own  business ;  but  their  wives  are  worried  to  death  by 
it.  After  all,  there's  nothing  like  a  man  taking  his  wife  into 
his  confidence,  just  as  he  has  taken  her  into  his  heart.  He 
should  make  her  to  feel  that  she  is  loved,  and  should  consult, 
and  be  advised  by  her  in  his  business.  Thus  God's  Spirit  will 
both  lead  and  help." 

The  Bradley  House,  on  the  corner  of  India  and  Commercial 
streets,  was  rented.  It  was  neatly  and  comfortably  uphol- 
stered— in  fact,  a  desirable  residence.  Francis  intended  that 
his  family  should  reside  in  it.  To  overcome  his  wife's  scruples, 
he  told  her,  encouragingly,  "My  dear,  I  am  not  going  to  make 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  575 

any  effort  to  sell  liquors,  but  I  will  only  have  it  for  my  cus- 
tomers and  sell  it  respectably."  In  this  manner  he  hushed  his 
conscience,  and  overcame  his  wife's  strong  objections.  His 
argument  then  was  to  the  point  and  answered  his  position  per- 
fectly. In  after  years  he  said,  having  tested  his  argument  to 
the  very  letter  :  "  It  is  an  utter  impossibility  to  sell  liquor 
respectably.  It  is  the  worst  business  under  the  sun.  The 
finest  of  men,  apparently,  will  come  to  you  and  say,  '  Give  me 
another  drink  ?'  You  reply,  '  You  have  enough  !'  They  then 
urge,  '  Don't  I  know  my  business  ?'  And  thus  you  cannot 
refuse  them  without  the  dreaded  quarrel." 

Mrs.  Murphy  could  not  rest,  or  consider  his  plans  until  he 
promised  her  faithfully  not  to  drink,  even  if  he  did  sell  the 
cursed  beverage  to  others.  And  yet  in  the  next  breath  she 
exclaimed,  conscience-stricken,  "  If  you  don't  drink,  yourself, 
some  other  people  will  take  it !"  Her  mind  was  clear  and 
strong,  her  heart  pure  and  sympathetic.  If  she  were  saved 
others  would  suffer  at  the  degradation  of  their  loved  ones. 
This  she  saw  and  felt  acutely.  From  this  time  fear  took  pos- 
session of  her  heart.  When  her  husband  took  her  and  the 
children  to  the  hotel,  he  carried  her  through  the  different 
rooms  with  an  eager  air,  as  if  he  wished  her  to  like  and  ad- 
mire her  future  home. 

"  How  does  it  please  you,  my  wife  ?"  he  asked  finally. 

"I  suppose  I  shall  have  to  be  pleased  with  it,"  she  an- 
swered sadly. 

"  Do  not  be  concerned,  I  am  not  going  to  take  intoxicating 
liquors,"  he  said  soothingly,  taking  her  hand  in  his. 

"  Others  will,"  she  said,  shaking  her  head  ominously. 

The  business  proved  to  be  very  successful.  The  brother 
retired,  leaving  the  whole  concern  to  Francis,  who  was  now  a 
wealthy  man.  He  remained  proprietor  of  the  hotel  ten  years. 
He  kept  his  word  for  a  time,  or  as  long  as  he  could,  not  to  im- 
bibe ;  but  he  finally  fell  a  victim  to  the  alluring  tempter.  He 
became  fond  of  it,  and  gratified  his  desire  to  excess.  The 


676  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK  OP 

business  was  left  to  take  care  of  itself  ;  the  money  lie  had 
made  was  spent  regardless  of  the  consequences. 

The  end  came.  Francis  Murphy  was  a  confirmed  drunkard, 
a  wretched  habitual  sot.  He  was  turned  out  in  this  condition 
upon  the  world,  with  his  poor  wife  and  children,  to  face  the 
storms  of  adversity  as  best  he  could.  How  patiently  and  re- 
signedly did  the  suffering  woman  endure  her  miserable  lot ! 
Not  a  word  of  unkindness  or  reproach  did  she  let  fall  from 
her  lips.  Never  would  she  let  it  happen,  that  he  might  feel 
she  was  unkind  or  reproachful  towards  him,  whom  she  so  de- 
votedly loved  both  in  adversity  and  prosperity.  Francis  Mur- 
phy ran  a  saloon  in  a  limited  fashion,  to  keep  the  wolf  from 
the  door.  The  insatiable  craving,  however,  for  the  flowing 
bowl  baffled  his  efforts,  and  hurried  him  breathlessly  down 
the  road  of  crime  and  ruin. 

In  a  drunken  brawl  in  his  saloon  he  refused  to  let  one  of  the 
men  go  up-stairs.  The  man  broke  away  from  the  crowd,  and 
went  up-stairs.  At  the  top  stood  Francis  Murphy,  wild  with 
passion  and  heated  with  drink.  They  met ;  a  scuffle  ensued  ; 
both  missed  their  footing,  and  fell  headlong  down  the  stairs. 
Francis  Murphy  was  unhurt,  but  the  intoxicated  man  had  been 
hurried  into  eternity  to  face  the  Great  Judge.  Think  of  stand- 
ing before  the  Lord  of  lords  in  that  state — before  the  glowing 
angels  and  the  glorious  saints,  with  the  vile,  reeking  odors  of 
rum  about  him,  and  the  horrible  signs  of  the  caresses  of  King 
Alcohol  about  his  person  and  on  his  face.  Oh  !  man,  where  is 
your  nobility,  your  manhood  ?  Oh,  man  !  endeavor  to  be  your- 
self, your  grand,  noble,  worthy  self,  so  that  when  the  good 
time  comes  you  may  be  allowed  to  kiss  the  blessed  Redeem- 
er's feet,  permitted  to  join  the  angels,  and  sing  their  swelling, 
inspired  strains ! 

Francis  Murphy  was  arrested  and  tried  for  the  life  of  a  fel- 
low-creature. He  himself  had  a  brief  look  at  death,  but  he 
was  acquitted  of  the  charge,  and  dismissed.  Did  he  pause, 
and  think  of  the  future  ?  Did  he  say  to  Satan,  "  Get  thee 
hence — I  will  have  nought  to  do  with  thee  ';  ?  Did  the  passing 


FEANCIS    MURPHY.  577 

glance  at  the  valley  of  death,  the  damp,  chill  feeling  of  it  arid 
its  deep  shadows,  arouse  his  soul,  and  show  him  how  to  walk 
to  be  saved  ?  Did  he  reform  ?  No  ;  he  plunged  down  the 
road  of  ruin  recklessly,  madly.  He  gave  scarcely  a  thought  to 
himself,  his  poor,  sorrow-stricken  family,  or  to  the  future.  He 
was  an  abandoned  wretch,  lost  to  everything  noble,  pure  and 
good.  He  was  indifferent  to  both  God  and  man.  What  would 
be  the  end?  Mr.  Murphy  had  now  reached  that  point  of 
degradation  and  disgrace  when  society  was  obliged  to  take  the 
matter  into  its  own  hand.  His  home  had  been  made  desolate 
by  himself  ;  his  wife  had  reached  a  state  of  despair  and  pain 
when  the  hardest  heart  in  the  whole  world  could  not  help  to 
pity  and  sympathize  with  her  and  her  children.  Society  could 
not  stand  by  and  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  sufferings  of  these 
innocent  people.  It  saw  but  one  course  to  adopt.  However, 
it  will  be  of  far  more  interest  to  give  Mr.  Murphy's  account  of 
this  wretched  part  of  his  life,  as  narrated  by  him  to  thousands 
upon  thousands  of  eager,  spell-bound  listeners. 

And  here  our  digression  will  be  pardoned  if  we  call  atten- 
tion to  Mr.  Murphy's  graphic  and  eloquent  descriptive  powers, 
which  have  enlisted  for  him  the  honest  hearts  of  the  people, 
and  which  have  been  a  spell  of  most  unusual  power  and  sweet- 
ness to  all  who  have  heard  him  speak. 

He  said  :  "  I  lost  everything  I  owned  in  this  world  in  the  City 
of  Portland.  On  the  night  of  September  25th,  1869,  I  was  a 
bankrupt,  without  a  dollar,  and,  I  think  I  can  say,  without  a 
friend.  This  is  a  good  deal  for  a  man  to  say.  It  is  easy 
enough  for  a  man  to  simply  say  that  he  has  no  friends  ;  but  it 
is  quite  another  thing  for  a  man  to  feel  it  down  deep  in  his 
heart. 

"  When  misfortune  came  my  friends  passed  away.  I  then 
kept  on  drinking,  trying  thereby  to  forget  the  sorrow  that  had 
come  upon  me.  I  did  not  care  much  whether  I  lived  or  died. 
Even  the  men,  who  were  engaged  in  the  same  business  I  had 
followed,  gave  me  the  cold  shoulder.  Generally  speaking,  if 
you  have  been  respected  in  the  liquor  business,  and  become 


678  THE  LIFE  AND   WOKK   OF 

unfortunate,  you  will  find  a  great  gulf  to  come  between  those 
similarly  engaged  and  yourself. 

"  Some  persons  thought  that  the  best  thing  they  could  do 
for  me  and  my  family  would  be  to  have  me  Arrested  and  sent 
to  the  county  jail  for  reformation.  Nevertheless,  it  has  been 
to  me  one  of  the  greatest  crosses  of  my  life. 

"  A  countryman  of  mine,  a  wholesale  liquor  dealer,  and  Mr. 
Perry,  the  sheriff,  came  to  my  place  one  day,  and  asked  me  to 
take  a  walk  down  the  street  with  them.  I  did  so,  not  knowing 
what  their  business  with  me  was.  The  sheriff  had  been  talk- 
ing about  things  of  recent  occurrence,  when  suddenly  he  said  : 

"  '  I  have  been  requested  to  have  you  arrested.' 

" '  By  whom,'  I  asked. 

"  Thereupon  he  pulled  a  writ  from  his  pocket,  having  the 
signatures  of  four  men  upon  it.  One  of  these  was  in  the  same 
business  I  followed,  and,  of  course,  had  not  the  least  sympa- 
thy with  me.  They  did  not  come  and  talk  with  me  in  a  manly 
way,  but  determined  upon  arresting  me,  like  a  dog,  and  thrust- 
ing me  into  a  dark  dungeon.  I  asked  : 

" '  Will  you  let  me  go  and  see  my  friend  Patrick  Mc- 
Clidgy?" 

"  '  Yes  ;  we  will  go  with  you  to  him,'  was  the  reply. 

"McClidgy  was  a  man  I  loved  as  truly  as  I  did  my  own 
children.  We  had  been  drunk  and  sober  together.  We  had, 
so-called,  good  times  in  associating  together  ;  and  I  loved 
him.  When  we  went  and  saw  him,  he  said  : 

" '  Take  him  away  and  lock  him  up,  it's  the  best  thing  you 
can  do  for  him.' 

"  At  this,  it  seemed  to  me  my  heart  would  break.  It  was 
about  the  hardest  blow  of  my  life." 

"  My  wife  knew  nothing  of  my  arrest.  My  children  were 
ignorant  of  it.  The  sudden  misfortune  to  me  had  not  yet 
reached  their  ears  or  hearts. 

"  Soon  we  came  to  the  dark  door  of  the  jail.  It  stood  open 
and  I  stepped  into  it.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  first  moment 
in  which  I  entered  the  building. 


FRANCIS    MUKPHY.  579 

"  I  was  thrust  into  the  little  dungeon  of  about  six  feet  by 
three  in  size.  It  contained  a  little  iron  bedstead,  having  upon  it 
a  pillow  of  straw  and  an  army  blanket  stretched  over  it.  Here 
thoughts  of  the  past  crowded  upon  me.  The  voice  that  came 
to  m'e  first  was  that  of  my  sainted  mother.  I  could  see  her 
sweet  face  and  hear  her  once  more.  I  thank  God  that  it  is 
utterly  impossible  to  tear  from  the  heart  the  memory  of  a  good 
mother.  Then  I  could  understand  what  the  poet  meant  in  his 
beautiful  language : 

"  I  hear  a  voice  thou  canst  not  hear, 
Which  says  thou  shalt  not  stay; 
I  see  a  hand  thou  canst  not  see, 
Which  beckons  me  away  ! 

"  Yes,  in  the  silence  of  that  lone  place,  I  could  hear  the  old 
familiar  voice.  And  there  I  remained,  suffering  all  the  terrible 
delirium  that  it  is  possible  for  a  poor  victim  of  intemperance 
to  "endure.  Of  course,  I  was  shut  away  from  the  world.  I 
was  altogether  deserted  by  everybody  except  my  faithful  wife 
and  children.  And  may  God  bless  these  ;  they  never  deserted 
me  ;  they  never  said  an  unkind  word  to  me.  Constantly,  al- 
most, they  passed  and  repassed  in  review  before  me. 

"  In  this  place  I  remained  for  a  considerable  time.  It  was 
evidently  designed  that  I  should  have  somewhat  of  leisure  with 
my  thoughts.  My  condition  was  one  of  extreme  sadness. 
But,  eventually,  I  realized  the  truth  of  the  lines  : 

"  '  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way, 

His  wonders  to  perform, 
He  plants  His  footsteps  in  the  sea, 
And  rides  upon  the  storm.'  " 

Francis  Murphy  had  ample  leisure  while  in  confinement  to 
ponder  on  his  condition,  and  the  dreadful  strait  in  which  his 
family  was  now  most  unfortunately  placed.  His  repentance 
and  contrition  were  strong  and  sincere.  If  ever  a  man  suffered 
acutely  that  man  was  the  noble  fighter  against  intemperance 


580  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

in  those  sad,  dark  days  in  Portland.  How  his  heart  and  spirit 
went  out  to  his  lonely,  suffering  companion,  who  had  so  cour- 
ageously borne  up  under  the  deep  sorrow,  the  manifold  trials 
he  had  heaped  upon  her  devoted  head  !  And  yet  he  could  do 
absolutely  nothing  to  help  her  in  any  way.  Could  he  have 
seen  her  as  she  was  away  from  him,  his  heart  indeed  would 
have  been  broken,  and  his  grief  and  agony  deepened  a  thou- 
sand times  deeper  than  it  was.  Poor  woman  !  alone,  with  six 
children  to  maintain,  her  lot  was  exceedingly  hard  to  bear. 
There  were  times  when  she  scarcely  knew  where  to  turn  for 
the  necessaries  of  life  ;  and  times  when  she  dared  not  think 
of  what  the  morrow  would  bring  to  her  and  her  helpless  little 
ones.  Long  and  earnest  supplications  to  Him,  who  helps  the 
afflicted,  poured  from  her  breaking  heart,  asking  help  for  her- 
self and  children,  and  for  him,  who  was  now  away  from  them. 
How  dark  and  desolate  did  life  appear  to  her  in  these  unhappy 
days  !  If  her  faith  in  Jesus  had  not  been  so  powerful,  so  .en- 
during, she  could  not  have  endured  the  ordeal.  As  it  was,  she 
was  fast  losing  hold  on  life,  fast  slipping  away  from  earth  and 
the  ties  that  bind  us  here  below,  and  drifting  down  that  broad, 
placid  and  mighty  stream  that  leads  but  to  one  point — Eter- 
nity. 

When  we  step  into  the  path  of  glory  we  are  not  often  im- 
pelled that  way  by  ourselves  ;  we  are  rather  guided  along  the 
shining,  flowery  road  by  others.  Some  kind,  guiding  hand 
stretches  forth  from  out  the  gloom  for  us  to  clasp,  and  clasp- 
ing it  firmly,  warmly,  we  walk  so  before  the  Lord,  in  sweet 
companionship  with  some  chosen  vessel  of  the  most  High,  who 
is  familiar  with  the  way. 

The  world  seemed  darkest  when  help  and  light  came  to 
Francis  Murphy.  It  came  in  the  person  of  Captain  Cyrus  Sturdi- 
vant,  a  gentlemen  admitted  by  all  who  know  him  to  be  the  kind- 
est friend  a  man  could  have.  Captain  Sturdivant  felt  the  "  wee 
sma'  voice  "  within  his  breast  calling  him  to  do  good.  To  do 
good,  in  his  opinion,  was  to  go  among  the  lowest  of  the  low, 
the  wretched  part  of  humanity.  He  therefore  went,  with  the 


FKANCIS    MUEPHY.  581 

sheriff 's  consent,  to  the  jail  in  which  our  embryo  lecturer  was 
confined,  with  the  purpose  of  talking  to  the  unfortunate  beings 
that  crowded  the  edifice.  However,  we  will  let  Mr.  Murphy 
describe  Captain  Sturdivant's  visit  in  his  fine  and  much-ad- 
mired manner  : 

"  To  Captain  Sturdivant,"  said  he,  "  if  I  have  been  of  any 
use  in  the  world,  under  God,  I  owe  all  of  it.  He  commenced 
his  work  on  the  Sabbath  day.  The  great,  dark  entrance  door 
was  opened  to  the  Christian  people.  Quite  a  number  had  col- 
lected together,  and  they  came  in  singing, — 

"  'All  hail  the  power  of  Jesus'  name  ; 

Let  angels  prostrate  fall ; 
Bring  forth  the  royal  diadem, 
And  crown  Him  Lord  of  all,  &c.' 

"  I  was  sitting  on  the  little  iron  bedstead  in  my  cell,  when 
the  keeper  came  to  the  door  and,  looking  at  me,  said  : 

" '  Mr.  Murphy,  we  would  like  to  have  you  come  out  and 
attend  religious  service.' 

"  '  Please  excuse  me,  I  will  remain  here  and  not  disturb  your 
people,'  was  my  prompt  reply. 

" '  Come  out,  these  people  are  your  friends,  they  will  not  in- 
jure you,'  persisted  the  keeper. 

"  There  was  something  so  kind  and  agreeable  in  the  face  of 
the  man,  that  it  produced  a  disposition  of  assent  within  me, 
and  touched  my  heart.  Yet  my  answer  was, — 

"  '  I  would  sooner  stay  here.' 

" '  Come  on,  Mr.  Murphy,'  he  continued. 

"  At  this,  I  concluded  I  would  go.  Oh,  how  my  heart  had 
ached  for  a  kind  word  ;  for  some  one  to  say,  '  Can  I  do  any- 
thing for  you  ?  '  I  then  responded, 

"  '  I  will  go  out  with  you,  I  believe.' 

"  I  arose  from  my  seat,  stepped  out  the  little  open  door, 
walked  along  about  ten  paces,  and  sat  down  with  the  rest  of  the 
prisoners.  There  was  Captain  Cyrus  Sturdivant.  His  back  was 
turned  toward  me  as  I  walked  along  the  corrider.  He  appeared 


582  THE  LIFE  AND  WOEK  OF 

to  me  then  as  a  larger  man  than  he  is  just  now.  When  ho 
turned  about  he  was  weeping  as  a  mother  sometimes  weeps 
for  her  child.  As  I  looked  at  his  face,  I  asked  myself,  '  Who 
he  is  weeping  for  ;  has  he  lost  a  son  ?'  No,  it  was  evident  that 
he  had  a  heart  for  others.  He  was  telling  of  God's  goodness. 
His  words  were  very  sweet  to  me.  He  spoke  to  us  of  hungry 
wives  and  children.  And,  at  that  moment,  it  seemed  I  could 
see  my  poor  wife  and  children  before  me.  As  he  continued 
to  talk,  it  seemed  to  me  that  my  imagination  never  realized  so 
powerfully,  as  it  did  at  that  time,  the  presence  of  the  objects 
of  my  affections.  My  children  seemed  to  be  about  me  ;  and 
my  dear  wife  to  stand  in  my  presence,  as  calm  and  patient  as 
ever,  saying  not  one  word.  I  queried,  '  Does  anyone  care  for 
me?' — 'I  wonder  if  there  is  a  friendly  hand  here  to  be  ex- 
tended to  me  ? '  And  I  said  to  myself,  '  Oh  what  would  I  not 
give  to  sit  down  with  that  man  and  tell  him  the  sorrow  of  my 
heart.'  Nobody  said  anything  to  me,  and  I  spoke  to  no  one. 
In  spite  of  myself  the  tears  would  course  down  my  cheeks. 

"  After  the  meeting  I  desired  to  hurriedly  get  away.  I 
wanted  to  get  into  the  little  dark  room,  out  of  sight,  so  that  I 
could,  in  some  way,  give  expression  to  the  grief  that  was 
almost  consuming  me.  I  was  walking  along  the  corridor, 
when  a  step  came  after  me,  followed  quickly  with  a  tap  on 
my  shoulder.  My  hand  was  instantly  seized,  and  Captain 
Sturdivant  stood  before  me. 

"  The  first  words  of  Captain  Sturdivant  to  me  were, — 

"  '  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  here.  Would  you  not  like  to  be 
sober,  as  you  once  were,  and  stop  the  business  of  selling  liquor, 
and  be  at  home  with  your  wife  and  children  ?' 

"  '  Yes,  I  would  like  to  be  respected.  I  do  not  want  to  be 
in  the  business  of  selling  liquor.  But,'  after  a  slight  pause,  I 
continued,  '  hardly  a  hope  remains  for  me.' 

"  Upon  this  reply,  the  good-hearted  man  immediately  pulled 
nie  close  to  his  side,  and  said  : 

"  '  There  is  hope  for  you  ;  and,  if  you  will  only  make  an 
effort  to  help  yourself,  we  will  help  you,  and  God  will  help  you. 


FEANCIS    MUEPHY.  583 

"  Oh,  how  sweetly  these  words  came  to  my  heart.  I  shall 
never  forget  them.  And  as  I  looked  up,  and  into  his  face,  I 
saw  the  tears  coursing  thick  and  fast  down  his  cheeks.  Then 
I  said  to  myself,  '  God  helping  me,  I  will  make  an  effort  to  be-» 
come  a  sober  man.'  And,  I  can  say,  I  secured  the  victory  over 
the  terrible  evil  of  intemperance  through  the  kindly  touch  and 
words  of  this  Christian." 

Never  had  Francis  Murphy  felt  so  touched  as  he  did  that 
blessed  morning.  Hope  there  was  still  for  him.  He  might 
become  free  again,  respected,  loved,  even  happy.  How  glad 
the  world  seemed  as  the  very  thought  flashed  through  his 
brain.  He  detained  Captain  Sturdivant.  He  could  not  let 
him  go  soon.  Would  he  ever  see  him  again  ?  There  was  so 
much  he  would  like  to  know,  so  many  questions  he  would  like 
to  ask.  Pie  turned  to  him  with  a  wistful  beseeching  look  in 
his  eyes,  and  asked  entreatingly  : 

"  Will  you  please  go  and  see  my  wife  and  tell  her  to  keep 
up  courage  ?" 

"  Indeed,  I  will,  my  friend,"  the  captain  said  earnestly. 

"  And  will  you  come  and  see  me  again — soon  ?  Oh,  do  !" 
And  Mr.  Murphy  held  out  his  hands  as  he  spoke  with  an  eager, 
earnest  air,  that  showed  how  much. he  longed  to  have  him 
come  again  to  the  prison.  Captain  Sturdivant  grasped  his 
hands  fervently  in  his,  and  cried  :  "O,  yes  !  I  will  come  and 
see  you  again.  And  oh,  may  God  bless  you  !"  Th,e  prisoner 
fell  back  in  his  cell,  and  covered  his  face  with  his  hands.  Like  a 
flash  the  lovely  scene  of  his  birthplace  rose  before  him — the 
fair,  green  hills,  the  frowning  gray  rocks,  and  the  long 
stretch  of  smiling,  sparkling  blue  sea.  His  mother's  blessing — 
the  broken  "  God  bless  you,"  rang  like  silver  chimes  through 
the  chambers  of  his  heart,  and  caused  the  big,  salt  tears  of 
regret  and  remorse  to  course  down  his  cheeks. 

That  night  was  peaceful.  He  saw  the  light — faintly,  flick- 
eringly,  but  surely.  A  longing  for  the  advent  of  the  next 
holy  day  now  took  possession  of  Mr.  Murphy.  He  yearned 
for  a  glimpse  of  Captain  Sturdivant — yearned  to  hear  a  few 


584  THE  JJFE  AND   WORK   OF 

more  words  of  cheer  and  encouragement.  "There  is  hope  for 
you  !"  Could  it  be  true  ?  Was  it  not  some  happy  dream 
came  to  distraught  him  ?  It  was  a  glad  reality.  He  lived 
again.  He  would  make  his  beloved  wife,  his  dear  little  chil- 
dren happy,  give  them  cause  to  love  and  bless  his  name.  How 
he  longed  to  embrace  these  darlings  of  his  heart,  inform  them 
that  he  would  reform,  and  be  himself  !  With  anxious  heart 
he  waited  as  patiently  as  he  could  for  Sunday  ;  and  when  it 
did  dawn  he  was  comparatively  happy.  He  said  in  alluding 
to  the  occasion  : 

"  The  Sabbath  day  came  and  great  interest  was  shown 
throughout  the  city.  It  was  generally  known  that  the  Chris- 
tian people  had  commenced  to  worship  in  jail.  A  large  num- 
ber of  people  early  gathered  about  the  building.  They  prin- 
cipally came  to  join  in  the  worship  of  God,  and  you  may  rest 
assured  there  was  quite  a  crowd. 

"  I  did  not  suppose  that  my  Avife  would  come  to  see  me.  At 
least  I  hoped  she  would  not.  But  it  was  ordered  otherwise. 
Of  course  I  knew  that,  out  of  the  gladness  of  her  heart,  she 
would  come,  if  it  did  not  occur  to  her  how  painful  it  would 
be  to  me  to  see  her  at  such  a  place  and  under  such  surround- 
ings. But  it  seems  that  where  hearts  are  true  they  cannot 
easily  be  separated.  Prison  doors  cannot  long  keep  them 
apart.  You  may  even  put  a  man  on  the  gallows,  the  redeem- 
ing power-  of  love  will  claim  its  own. 

"  The  doors  of  the  prison  were  soon  opened  wide,  and  a 
continuous  line  of  people  entered.  How  different  my  feelings 
now  from  those  I  had,  at  the  same  hour,  one  week  previous. 
I  actually  longed  to  see  the  face  of  that  Christian  man,  Capt. 
Sturdivant.  Through  the  previous  week  I  prayed  from  my 
heart,  while  alone  in  my  cell,  that  God  would  send  him  to  me. 
I  longed  for  some  friendly  hand,  and  for  deliverance,  so  that  I 
might,  liberated  from  all  bonds,  go  to  my  innocent  children 
and  queenly  wife. 

"  As  the  crowds  came  in  they  sang,  as  before.     It  was  truly 


FEAISTCIS    MUEPHY.  585 

a  beautiful  and  inspiring  sight.  When  the  place  was  well 
filled,  hundreds  of  people  had  to  be  turned  away. 

"  When  I  lifted  up  my  head  and  looked  over  among  the 
throng,  my  eyes  fell  upon  my  dear  wife.  She  had  stepped 
just  inside  the  door,  so  as  to  be  out  of  sight  as  much  as  possi- 
ble, dear  child.  I  see  her  sweet  face  now.  The  moment  I 
looked  upon  her,  she  stepped  aside,  to  be  away  from  my  gaze 
as  soon  as  possible.  The  little  children  were  with  her.  They 
had  hold  of  their  mother's  dress,  and  I  could  see  them  looking 
through  the  audience  to  see  where  their  father  was. 

"  As  I  was,  seated  there  on  that  occasion,  I  felt  in  my  heart 
that  I  would  have  thanked  God,  had  he  taken  me  to  himself  in 
an  instant  of  time.  My  experience  was  of  such  a  terribly 
painful  nature,  that  my  poverty  of  language  forbids  me  to 
attempt  a  description  of  it. 

"  When  I  saw  my  wife,  her  lips  parted,  and  her  eyes  filled 
with  tears.  I  had  just  taken  my  seat,  and  kept  looking  at  my 
my  children.  Truly,  I  realized  that  my  life  was  far  from 
desirable. 

"  At  this  point,  my  oldest  daughter,  Mary,  who  was  then  ten 
years  of  age,  parted  from  her  mother  and  pressed  along 
through  the  audience.  She  had  a  beautiful  bouquet  in  her 
hand.  Evidently  she  had  brought  it  to  her  father.  I  saw  that 
the  face  of  the  dear  child  had  become  as  white  as  linen.  Soou 
she  was  at  my  side.  She  tried  to  shake  hands  with  me,  but 
standing  as  she  was,  she  could  not  very  well,  and  passing  her 
arms  around  my  neck,  she  said  : 

"  '  Father,  oh,  father,  we  have  been  lonesome  for  you  !' 

" '  Daughter,  I  have  been  lonesome  for  you,'  I  replied,  and 
at  once  added,  '  and,  God  helping,  I  shall  make  an  effort  to  be 
a  sober  man.' ': 

After  the  service,  which  all  of  the  prisoners  attended,  Cap- 
tain Sturdivant  with  Mrs.  Murphy  and  her  children  went  to 
our  hero.  They  all  adjourned  to  his  cell.  In  that  gloomy 
place  a  pathetic  and  solemn  scene  was  enacted  ;  by  far  too 
solemn  for  us  to  narrate,  when  we  have  Francis  Murphy's 
25* 


586  THE  LIFE  AND  WOEK  OF 

own  touching  words  to  place  before  our  kind  readers.  He 
said  : 

"  Capt.  Sturdivant  was  close  by  my  side.  He  placed  his 
arm  about  my  neck,  and  said,  '  Mr.  Murphy,  give  your  heart  to 
Christ  and  all  will  be  well  with  you  ! ' 

"  In  a  little  while  my  wife  was  by  my  side,  with  the  .chil- 
dren. 

"  I  hardly  dared  to  look  to  heaven,  I  had  been  so  unfortu- 
nate. But  a  ray  of  hope  came  to  my  poor,  aching  heart,  and 
then,  with  my  poor  suffering  wife  and  children,  we  all  knelt 
down  together  upon  the  cold,  dark  prison  floor,  and  supplicated 
God's  Throne  for  Divine  mercy  and  grace. 

"The  work  was  then  and  there  done.  I  arose  from  my 
knees  with  an  evidence  of  God's  acceptance  of  me.  Blessed 
he  His  name.  I  knew,  for  myself,  that, — 

"  He  breaks  the  power  of  cancel'd  sin  ; 

He  sets  the  prisoner  free  ; 
His  blood  can  make  the  foulest  clean  ; 
His  blood  availed  for  me  !" 

From  this  time  forward  he  was  one  of  God's  chosen — one  to 
go  among  men  and  save  them  from  sin,  shame  and  crime,  and 
to  lead  them  along  the  way  of  truth  and  happiness  to  glory 
everlasting.  His  heart  had  undergone  that  great  and  peculiar 
change.  He  stood  now  in  the  light.  The  obscuring  mists 
that  had  blinded  him  for  so  many  years  were  no  longer  there 
— all  was  bright,  and  as  clear  as  day.  No  more  would  he  stum- 
ble, and  fall ;  his  step  was  firm,  his  gaze  steadfast,  unshrink- 
ing and  directed  heavenward.  He  was  a  believer  ;  he  was  a 
convert.  He  belonged  to  Jesus  ;  and  henceforth  was  ordained 
to  work  for  him  in  saving  mankind  from  its  worst  foe,  its 
most  seductive  enemy — Alcohol.  The  last  drop  of  the  allur- 
ing beverage  had  passed  his  lips  ;  and  henceforward  he  Avas  the 
savior  of  those  unfortunate  souls  who  imbibed.  Francis  Mur- 
phy came  from  out  the  dangers  that  had  beset  him,  passed 
through  the  ordeal,  as  a  victor,  crowned  with  signal  success. 


FKANCIS    MUKPHY.  587 

He  stood  now  a  man  among  men,  pure,  noble,  grand,  a  king 
among  his  subjects.  The  divine  spirit  burned  clearly,  stead- 
ily, within  his  breast,  and  rayed  out  of  his  eyes  with  such 
grand  beauty  that  few  could  meet  his  shining  glance  unmoved, 
unloving.  Every  one  that  now  came  in  his  presence  longed  to 
shake  hands  with  him,  and  hear  him  speak.  There  was  some- 
thing about  him,  a  look,  an  air  that  attracted  all  to  him,  and 
made  each  one  feel  as  though  he  had  just  issued  from  a  holy 
place.  He  was  saved.  God  heard  his  earnest  prayer  in  the 
lonely  cell,  heard  the  tearful  supplication  of  the  loving  wife 
and  offspring,  the  beseeching  words  of  one  of  the  best,  the 
truest  of  men,  and  came  down,  and  granted  the  so  much  de- 
sired request.  As  our  subject  said  : 

"  Everything  became  transformed.  The  very  gr'anite  of  the 
prison  seemed  to  me  to  cut  and  carved  so  as  to  exhibit  the 
forms  of  angles." 

Thus  came  peace  and  joy  to  him  who  had  for  some  time 
been  a  total  stranger  to  both. 

The  service  that  brought  so  much  good  being  over,  Mr. 
Murphy,  with  his  happy  family  and  happy  Captain  Sturdivant, 
quitted  the  place  in  which  he  had  suffered  so  greatly.  A  long 
walk  was  enjoyed  by  them  with  zest  ;  and  everything  they 
saw  seemed  brighter"  and  gladder  in  God's  gay  sunshine,  that 
memorable  Sunday. 

Francis  Murphy  was  not  directly  set  at  liberty.  While  he 
remained  imprisoned,  he  spent  his  time  in  deep  thought,  and 
made  up  his  mind  in  regard  to  the  future,  and  the  course  he 
should  pursue  when  liberated.  Before  his  mind's  eye  there 
stretched  a  long,  radiant  vista,  and  he  longed  to  walk  in  the 
way  of  it.  To  him  it  seemed  the  only  road  for  him  to  follow. 
A  mighty  voice  seemed  to  call  him  ;  a  warning  hand  pointed 
to  it.  For  some  days  he  was  restless,  uncertain,  wavering  ; 
and  then  all  was  clear.  He  saw  what  was  his  future.  He  sent 
in  a  petition  to  Sheriff  Perry.  It  expressed  an  earnest  desire 
to  hold  a  prayer  meeting  in  the  jail.  His  heart  went  out  to 
his  fellow  captives.  He  felt  deeply  for  them  ;  he  wished  to 


588  LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

save  them.  The  meeting  was  one  remarkable  for  its  earnest- 
ness, and  effect.  Francis  Murphy  spoke  to  the  motley  prison 
crowd  as  the  poor  wretches  had  never  heard  anyone  speak,  and 
roused  them  to  their  degradation,  and  to  what  the  future 
promised,  until  each  and  all  shed  tears  of  grief  and  joy  com- 
bined. They  realized  there  was  hope  for  them  ;  that  they 
could  be  saved.  Like  the  inspired  few  that  die  to  save  their 
fellow  creatures,  the  great  temperance  advocate  stood  that  day 
in  the  Portland  jail.  Those  who  heard  him  recognized  him  as 
what  he  was,  and  is — a  hero,  a  being  inspired  with  a  devoted 
love  of  his  fellows.  Carried  away  with  sympathy  and  desire 
to  save,  he  forgot  himself,  lost  the  first  sensations  of  embarrass- 
ment that  had  assailed  him,  and  soared  to  grand  heights  of 
eloquence  and  fervor.  Every  heart  in  that  seemingly  God-for- 
saken crowd,  throbbed  with  him ;  and  every  one  recognized 
him  as  a  savior,  helper  and  friend. 

From  that  memorable  occasion  the  wonderful  good  and  suc- 
cess of  the  after  days  of  brightness  sprang.  He  understood 
his  position  in  the  world  ;  and  with  God's  kind  grace  and 
assistance  he  was  going  to  clearly  define  it  to  mankind.  "In 
the  deep  silence  of  the  night  the  blessed  word  came  to  my 
soul  that  God  had  a  work  for  me  to  do,"  Mr.  Murphy  fer- 
vently remarked  on  one  occasion.  "  I  then  said  to  the  Lord  : 
If  thou  wilt  give  me  to  see  much  fruit  from  this  work,  it 
shall  be  the  evidence  to  me  that  I  am  called  to  preach  the 
gospel." 

The  fruit  came  to  him  before  many  hours — every  man  in 
jail  was  saved  and  had  been  saved  by  him  alone.  From  that 
moment  he  stood  before  man  a  chos'en  vessel.  His  success 
had  been  so  signal  that  the  outside  world  heard  of  it,  and 
rejoiced.  He  had  been  one  of  the  lowest  of  the  low,  a  mis- 
erable, offensive  inebriate,  a  saloon-keeper  ;  but  now  the  light 
around  him  was  so  dazzling  that  men  fell  back,  and  won- 
dered at  it.  Surely  the  radiance  that  shone  wherever  he  went 
was  the  holy  light  God  flings  about  the  chosen  !  Like  a 
vivid  flash  it  rayed  out  upon  the  dark,  sleeping  world,  and 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  589 

startled  it.  What  was  it  ?  "Would  it  last  ?  might  be  heard 
eagerly  demanded  by  the  wondering  many.  It  lasts  ;  ay,  and 
forever  !  A  light  that  will  be  always  burning,  brightly  and 
steadily,  to  point  the  way,  to  eternal  happiness  and  glory  ! 
Now  is  the  time  to  be  saved — therefore  be  saved  !  Think  of 
the  future,  the  awful  hereafter,  and  dash  the  maddening  cup 
of  intoxicating  drink  away  from  you,  and  take  up  the  cross  ! 
Oh,  be  wise  while  there  is  yet  time  !  Sign  the  pledge,  and 
swell  the  hundreds  that  hurry  so  joyfully  heavenward. 

Mr.  Murphy's  suffering  family  did  not  hear  of  what  good 
he  Avas  doing  in  jail.  They  little  knew  how  near  at  hand  was 
that  most  devoutly  prayed  for  hour,  when  they  and  want 
would  be  strangers,  and  he,  whom  they  so  dearly  loved,  would 
be  with  them,  never  to  go  astray  again.  As  the  temperance 
apostle  said  to  the  great  listening  throngs  that  hushed  to  hear 
him  speak: 

"  They  were  in  straitened  circumstances.  The  landlord  had 
notified  my  wife  and  her  six  little  ones  to  get  out  of  his  build- 
ing. There  was  no  one  to  help  her. 

"  What  I  suffered  during  that  time  God  himself  only  knows. 
My  wife  denied  herself  bread  to  feed  the  children,  as  a  good 
mother  always  will,  and  even  to  send  me  a  bite  by  the  chil- 
dren when  they  came  to  see  me.  Finally,  the  children  could 
not  come  ;  they  had  no  money  to  pay  the  car  fare. 

'•'  It  was  on  the  30th  of  October,  1870,  that  I  received  a  letter 
from  my  dear  wife.  It  was  the  last  one  I  ever  received  from 
her.  It  appears  that  she  had  no  meals  that  day,  as  she  had 
nothing  to  cook.  Johnny,  the  littlest  of  the  six,  while  walk- 
ing up  and  down  the  floor,  had  turned  round  at  last  and 
pleaded  to  her  :  'Mother,  haven't  you  got  a  piece  of  bread  for 
me  ? '  She  opened  the  cupboard,  but  searched  in  vain.  For 
the  first  time  there  was  actually  not  even  a  crust  or  crumb 
for  the  '  pet,'  for  whom  she  had  always  been  able  to  save  at 
least  something. 

"  The  mother's  heart  failed  her,  and  then  she  sat  down  and 
wrote  me  this  letter  : 


590  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

" '  DEAR  HUSBAND  : — I  have  had  a  week  of  bitter  trial. 
My  strength  is  failing  me.  I  cannot  live  long.  But  do  not 
be  discouraged.  My  trust  is  in  God.' 

"  This  letter-I  received  at  night.  I  could  not  read  it  in  my 
dark  cell,  but  I  managed  to  decipher  the  words  by  the  gas  in 
the  corridor. 

"  I  walked  my  cell  all  that  night.  I  cannot  speak  my  ex- 
perience on  that  the  most  bitter  night  I  ever  spent  in  all  my 
life.  But  it  is  past  now,  thanks  be  to  God  !  never  to  be  lived 
over.  I  detei-mined  to  put  my  trust  in  God.  If  I  lived  until 
morning  I  would  show  that  letter  to  the  keeper,  and  tell  him 
the  circumstances,  and  ask  him  to  go  to  Captain  Sturdivant, 
the  only  earthly  friend  I  knew.  And  when  daylight  came 
God's  goodness  came  unto  me. 

"I  was  released  from  prison  through  the  efforts  of  my 
friend,  Captain  Sturdivant.  On  my  road  home  I  heard  a 
familiar  step  behind  me,  approaching  rapidly,  and  the  next 
moment  the  arms  of  my  son  Willie  were  around  my  neck. 

"  He  whispered  in  my  ear,  '  We  live  down  there,  father  ; 
come  quick  this  way,  and  follow  me.  No  one  is  looking.' 
The  poor  boy  thought  it  was  necessary  to  hide  me.  '  I  am 
released,  my  boy  ! '  I  cried  to  him, 

"*  Blessed  be  to  God,'  he  answered,  as  he  fled  to  break 
the  news  to  mother ;  and  in  nearing  the  house  the  children 
came  and  flocked  around  rne,  and  I  felt  like  old  times  again." 

Mr.  Murphy's  heart  almost  broke  when  he  beheld  his  wife. 
He  stood  still  and  looked  at  her  a  long  time.  He  shuddered, 
and  then  ran  to  her,  with  an  exclamation  of  intense  grief. 
Poor  woman !  Life  to  her  had  been  most  difficult,  and  she 
had  stepped  upon  the  shadowy  threshold  of  death,  soon  to  be 
lost  in  the  deep  gloom.  "  God  helping  me,  dear  wife,"  he  said, 
sobbiugly,  "I  will  never  touch  another  drop  of  liquor,  and 
never  sell  another  drop  !"  She  fell  down  upon  her  knees,  and 
with  him  and  their  children  prayed  to  God  to  assist  him  in  his 
noble  resolve.  He  described  the  effect  'of  this  earnest  suppli- 
cation in  the  following  manner  : 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  591 

"  And  then,  all  at  once,  things  brightened,  and  I  determined 
to  erect  a  family  altar.  I  said,  I  will  go  to  Captain  Sturdi- 
vant,  who  had  rescued  me,  and  tell  him. 

"And  that  night  he  brought  a  lot  of  friends  with  him  to 
erect  it,  and  they  brought  fruit  and  garments  for  the  little 
children.  Oh  !  you  don't  know  how  they  needed  them.  My 
eyes  cannot  help  filling  with  tears  when  I  remember  that  crisis 
of  my  life." 

The  fight  with  poverty  now  devolved  on  the  head  of  the 
family.  He  fell  to  with  a  will,  and  did  anything  of  a  respect- 
able character  that  came  to  him.  In  the  sacred  recesses  of  his 
heart  he  acknowledged  a  discontented  feeling  at  his  lot.  He 
felt  some  powerful  inward  emotion  that  seemed  to  demand  of 
him  more  than  he  did,  that  pushed  him  on  to  other  things, 
higher  and  greater.  He  could  not  help  feeling  restless  and 
anxious,  and  longing  for  that  indefinite  state,  that  condition  he 
desired  without  really  knowing  it,  which  the  future  held  in 
store. 

Three  weeks  went  by,  and  then  Mrs.  Murphy  fell  danger- 
ously ill  of  typhoid  fever.  She  lingered  some  time  between 
life  and  death,  and  finally  yielded  the  mastery  to  the  latter. 
The  suffering  of  Mr.  Murphy  and  his  children  was  of  a  charac- 
ter that  all  who  have  lost  those  nearest  and  dearest  to  them 
have  experienced,  and  which  rends  their  hearts  with  such  ter- 
rific pain  they  wonder  how  it  is  they  could  outlive  the  agony. 

Mr.  Murphy  felt  this  great  blow  in  an  intense  degree.  Even 
to  this  day  when  he  narrates  his  eventful  life, 'and  comes  to 
this  period  of  it,  his  voice  trembles  and  big  tears  roll  down 
his  cheeks.  To  his  mother  and  wife  are  dedicated  the  greater 
part  of  his  most  pathetic  speeches.  When  he  speaks  of  these 
two  good  and  true  women,  he  rises  to  eloquent  grandeur,  and 
captures  the  immense  concourses  that  go  to  hear  him,  and 
moves  them  to  tears  and  sobs.  On  one  occasion  he  said  elo- 
quently, in  speaking  of  what  he  was  doing  : 

"  I  am  doing  this  work  because  I  cannot  help  it.  I  can 
avoid  doing  it  no  more  that  I  can  avoid  breathing.  There  is 


592  THE  LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

no  portion  of  life  I  do  not  seem  to  have  tasted.  There  if,  not 
a  man,  who  has  passed  through  affliction,  except  that  I  have 
been  called  upon  to  do  as  much.  I  have  been  in  the  furnace 
when  the  form  of  the  fourth  was  in  it.  I  knew  God  was  with 
me.  ' 

"  Could  I  but  give  others  to  see  what  I  have  seen,  to  feel 
what  I  have  felt,  and  to  pass  through  what  I  have  done,  none 
would  be  surprised  at  my  eagerness.  I  found,  beyond  all 
questioning,  that  God  saves  to  the  uttermost.  No  matter,  if 
you  have  been  a  prisoner,  and  base  rebel,  He  comes  to  you 
with  more  than  a  mother's  love. 

"  How  quickly  would  the  mother  come  to  her  boy,  if  she 
could,  and  put  her  hand  fondly  upon  his  head,  and  draw  him 
lovingly  to  her  breast.  A  boy,  even  in  rags,  will  try  to  make 
himself  appear  well  before  her  who  bore  him.  But  she  will 
not  stop  to  see  his  rags  ;  she  will  see  her  face  in  his,  and  take 
him  to  her  heart.  She  will  not  be  content  to  take  his  hand, 
but  will  fall  upon  his  neck. 

"  So  Christ  sees  His  face  in  yours,  if  you  will  but  believe  in 
Him  ;  and  wherever  you  may  be,  or  however  degraded,  He, 
the  once  crucified,  oppressed  and  bleeding,  stands  ready  to  fold 
you  in  His  arms.  Yea,  he  stands  and  knocks  at  the  door  of 
your  heart,  until  His  locks  are  wet  with  the  dew  of  the  even- 
ing God  always  does  His  part." 


EEANCIS    MUEPHY.  593 


CHAPTER  III. 

MURPHY'S    CAREER    AS'  A  TEMPERANCE    ORATOR    OPENS. — HIS 

STRUGGLES    AND   PROGRESS   IN  THE  CAUSE  OF  REFORM. 

THE    PUBLIC     RECOGNIZES    HIM    AND    HIS   MISSION. THE 

GREAT  PITTSBURGH    REVIVAL. FRANCIS  MURPHY  BECOMES 

A  HOUSEHOLD  NAME  THROUGHOUT  THE  LAND. 

FRANCIS  MURPHY  delivered  his  first  lecture  in  the  City  Hall, 
Portland,  on  the  3rd  day  of  April,  1873.  A  number  of  gen- 
tlemen who  were  highly  interested  in  the  noble  cause  of  tem- 
perance, and  interested  in  him,  induced  him  to  do  this. 

The  success  of  the  event  was  very  marked.  The  hall  was 
crowded  by  a  curious  and  eager  crowd.  Our  subject  was 
somewhat  embarrassed  as  he  stepped  forward  on  the  platform, 
and  stood  before  all  those  eyes  ;  but  this  feeling  was  transi- 
tory. He  forgot  self  and  his  surroundings,  as  he  spoke  of  his 
life,  and  argued  for  his  cause,  rising  often  to  sonorous  elo- 
quence. The  audience  was  moved  to  tears,  and  then  to  laugh- 
ter, when  his  well  known,  genial  humor  would  burst  out  in 
quaint  bits  of  rhetoric. 

That  evening  he  received  over  sixty  applications  to  lecture 
in  other  cities.  He  was  amazed  and  delighted. 

He  had  felt  that  he  failed  in  favorably  impressing  his  audi- 
ence at  first ;  but  here  was  substantial  proof  of  his  success. 
This  result  prompted  him  to  continue  the  work  he  had  com- 
menced. He  began  a  series  of  meetings  in  Portland,  and 
delivered  about  forty  lectures  with  most  gratifying  effect. 
A  club  was  organized  by  those  who  reformed,  and  devoted 
Christians  who  longed  to  save  the  fallen,  and  did  much  to  break 
down  the  baniers  of  King  Alcohol.  Mr.  Murphy's  success 


594  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

was  noised  abroad  ;  and  people  in  other  parts  of  Maine  cried 
out  for  him  to  come  to  them.  »He  could  not  be  deaf  to  their 
demands.  He  complied,  and  went  from  place  to  place  telling 
of  his  reformation,  and  urging  all  to  relinquish  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating liquor.  Two  years  were  nobly  spent  in  the  State 
of  Maine,  and  were  productive  of  great  good  ;  and  one  passed 
in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  with  like  result.  Out  west, 
where  a  large  band  of  people  had  gathered  together  to  fight 
rum,  his  name  went  with  words  of  praise  and  joy.  He  was 
heralded  as  the  savior  of  the  fallen  ;  he  was  the  appointed 
apostle  of  temperance.  The  aforesaid  band  of  noble  fighters 
in  a  most  noble  cause  begged  him  to  come  West,  and  address 
the  thousands  of  unfortunate  beings  in  that  section  of  the 
country.  He  went  to  Iowa  and  Illinois.  In  these  States,  his 
advent  was  hailed  with  exclamations  of  delight.  Wherever 
he  went,  he  did  wonderful  good ;  and  the  people  loved  him. 
In  Iowa  and  Illinois,  no  one  is  so  well  known,  so  respected,  and 
so  admired  as  Francis  Murphy.  His  name  is  a  household 
word.  And  hundreds  upon  hundreds  fall  down  on  bended 
knees,  and  pray  to  God  to  shower  blessings  on  the  head  of 
him,  who  brought  them  out  of  the  thick  shadows  of  the  valley 
of  sin  and  death. 

He  went  to  Freeport,  by  special  request.  In  that  town  tem- 
perance was  only  made  known  by  a  small  band  of  brave  wo- 
men, who  went  from  saloon  to  saloon  praying.  They  could 
not  boast  of  any  signal  success.  Francis  Murphy  came,  and 
things  assumed  another  aspect.  He  roused  the  town,  and  num- 
bers of  people  hitherto  indifferent  to  the  cause  rushed  forward 
and  swelled  the  lists,  under  his  magic  spell  moved  to  lead  pure 
lives  and  eager  to  do  good.  His  way  was  vigorous,  manly  and 
inspired.  Every  one  felt  he  had  been  sent,  and  that  he  was 
there  to  save.  His  manner  won  all  hearts.  It  was  modest 
but  manly,  and  his  pathos  was  genuine.  His  appeals  went 
forth,  and  were  obeyed.  He  was  accepted  as  the  apostle  of 
temperance. 

A  very  successful  camp-meeting  was  conducted  at  Old  Or- 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  595 

chard  Beach,  in  New  York  State,  in  the  autumn  of  1874.  It 
was  here  that  Mr.  Murphy  made  one  of  his  most  famous 
speeches  on  temperance,  carrying  the  immense  concourse  with 
him  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  it.  Dio  Lewis,  that 
world-famed  doctor,  and  lecturer,  was  present,  and,  after  our 
AT  LAST.  ^*°  address  the  people.  lie 

"When  on  my  day  of  lite  the  night  is  falling,  I  "  I  cannot  make  a  speech 
And,  in  the  winds  from  unsunned  spaces  biOwn,  "  ,  ,,  ,. 

I  hear  far  voices  out,  of  darkness  calling  speeches  tor  torty  years  ; 

M>  fed  to  paths  unknown.  gor  over  twenty-five  years  ; 

Thou  who  has  made  my  home  of  life  so  pleasant,  ,  r  •  .  ^  Tn  find's 

Leave  not  its  tenant  wben  its  walls  decay  !  |  3cn  as  ms  to-day.  in  IrOCl  ,s 

0  Love  divine,  O  Helper  tver  present,  .  ry  all   over  the  land,  every 
Be  tlion  my  strength  and  stay  !  J 

3Be  near  me  when  all  else  from  me  is  drifting-      ,engtn  are  spared." 

Earth,  sky,  home's  pictures,  days  of  suade  and  iarkable  for   the    SUCCCSS  of 

sbine  —  . 

And  kindly  faces  to  my  own  uplifting  :'  he   carried    the    hearts    or 

gained  innumerable  signers 

1  bave  but  Thee,  O  Father!  Let  thv  spirit  ,    ,,       £         ,.     . 

Be  with  me  then  to  comfort  and  uphold;  notable    tor    their    educa- 

3So  gate  of  pear!,  no  nrancU  of  palm  I  merit,  „„  „  lpOrnrpr     TTnprlnpatpd 

No  street  of  shining  gold.  as  a  lectiu  ei  .    u  neaucaiea, 

Suffice  it  if—  my  good  and  ill  unreckoned,  :'r?dy  and  reading,  though  his 
And  both  foreiven  through  thy  abounding  rich  stores  of  humor  and 

grace  — 

I  find  myself  by  hands  familiar  beckoned,  l   devotion  to  the  cause  of 

Unto  my  fitting  pUce;  -•    ,,  ,.     .    ,.  ,. 

d  the  severe  discipline    of 
Some  humble  door  among  thy  many  mansions,  ,, 

Some  sheltering  shade   where  sin  and   striving  [ie    ai't    OI    public    speaking, 

And  flowHorever  through  Heaven's  greea  ex-     name  blaze  like  a  meteor 
pensions  3e(j  that  peculiar  power  of 

The  river  of  thy  peace.  r  l 

TLere  from  the  music  round  about  me  stealing  !ePtivitJ-  His  intellectual 
I  fein  would  learn  the  ne«v  and  holy  long,  3ars  were  fed  bv  a  thousand 

And  find,  at  last,  beneath  ruy   trees  of  healing, 
The  life  lor  which  I  long.  reserve  torces  so  necessary 


_  igh  long  years  of  arduous 

toil.  Me  was  becoming  tue  accomplished  master  of  the  instru- 
ments that  God  put  in  his  hand  to  use  to  such  purposes  in  the 
forging  of  great  results. 

The  temperance  orator  used  his  spare  time  in  reading  and 
furbishing  the  weapons  in  his  intellectual  armory  to  a  high 
degree  of  polish  and  sharpness.  His  style  commenced  to  rise 
to  a  higher  dignity  than  of  old,  though  he  has  always  kept 
that  conversational  ease  and  directness,  which  on  important 


594  THE  LIFE  AND  WOEK  OP 

was  noised  abroad  ;  and  people  in  other  parts  of  Maine  cried 
out  for  him  to  come  to  them.  .He  could  not  be  deaf  to  their 
demands.  He  complied,  and  went  from  place  to  place  telling 
of  his  reformation,  and  urging  all  to  relinquish  the  use  of  in- 
toxicating liquor.  Two  years  were  nobly  spent  in  the  State 
of  Maine,  and  were  productive  of  great  good  ;  and  one  passed 
in  the  State  of  New  Hampshire  with  like  result.  Out  west, 
where  a  large  band  of  people  had  gathered  together  to  fight 
rum,  his  name  went  with  words  of  praise  and  joy.  He  was 
heralded  as  the  savior  of  the  fallen  ;  he  was  the  appointed 
apostle  of  temperance.  The  aforesaid  band  of  noble  fighters 
in  a  most  noble  cause  begged  him  to  come  West,  and  address 
the  thousands  of  unfortunate  beings  in  that  section  of  the 
country.  He  went  to  Iowa  and  Illinois.  In  these  States,  his 
advent  was  hailed  with  exclamations  of  delight.  Wherever 
he  went,  he  did  wonderful  good ;  and  the  people  loved  him. 
In  Iowa  and  Illinois,  no  one  is  so  well  known,  so  respected,  and 
so  admired  as  Francis  Murphy.  His  name  is  a  household 
word.  And  hundreds  upon  hundreds  fall  down  on  bended 
knees,  and  pray  to  God  to  shower  blessings  on  the  head  of 
him,  who  brought  them  out  of  the  thick  shadows  of  the  valley 
of  sin  and  death. 

He  went  to  Freeport,  by  special  request.  In  that  town  tem- 
perance was  only  made  known  by  a  small  band  of  brave  wo- 
men, who  went  from  saloon  to  saloon  praying.  They  could 
not  boast  of  any  signal  success.  Francis  Murphy  came,  and 
things  assumed  another  aspect.  He  roused  the  town,  and  num- 
bers of  people  hitherto  indifferent  to  the  cause  rushed  forward 
and  swelled  the  lists,  under  his  magic  spell  moved  to  lead  pure 
lives  and  eager  to  do  good.  His  way  was  vigorous,  manly  and 
inspired.  Every  one  felt  he  had  been  sent,  and  that  he  was 
there  to  save.  His  manner  won  all  hearts.  It  was  modest 
but  manly,  and  his  pathos  was  genuine.  His  appeals  went 
forth,  and  were  obeyed.  He  was  accepted  as  the  apostle  of 
temperance. 

A  very  successful  camp-meeting  was  conducted  at  Old  Or- 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  595 

chard  Beach,  in  New  York  State,  in  the  autumn  of  1874.  It 
was  here  that  Mr.  Murphy  made  one  of  his  most  famous 
speeches  on  temperance,  caiTying  the  immense  concourse  with 
him  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  it.  Dio  Lewis,  that 
world-famed  doctor,  and  lecturer,  was  present,  and,  after  our 
hero  had  taken  his  seat,  was  asked  to  address  the  people.  He 
rose,  and  said,  with  great  effect  :  "  I  cannot  make  a  speech 
after  Mr.  Murphy.  I  have  heard  speeches  for  forty  years  ; 
have  been  on  the  rostrum  myself  for  over  twenty-five  years  ; 
but  I  have  never  heard  such  a  speech  as  his  to-day.  In  God's 
name,  keep  that  man  telling  his  story  all  over  the  land,  every 
night,  as  long  as  his  breath  and  strength  are  spared." 

These  earlier  years,  though  remarkable  for  the  success  of 
Murphy's  temperance  efforts — for  he  carried  the  hearts  of 
thousands  wherever  he  went,  and  gained  innumerable  signers 
to  the  pledge — were  principally  notable  for  their  educa- 
tional influence  on  the  man  himself  as  a  lecturer.  Uneducated, 
with  a  mind  untrained  by  early  study  and  reading,  though  his 
imagination  was  burdened  with  rich  stores  of  humor  and 
pathos,  and  his  heart  burned  with  devotion  to  the  cause  of 
temperance  reform,  he  yet  needed  the  severe  discipline  of 
habit,  the  practical  training  in  the  art  of  public  speaking, 
which  were  afterwards  to  make  his  name  blaze  like  a  meteor 
through  the  land.  Murphy  possessed  that  peculiar  power  of 
strong  natures,  the  power  of  receptivity.  His  intellectual 
resources  during  these  important  years  were  fed  by  a  thousand 
influences.  He  was  absorbing  the  reserve  forces  so  necessary 
to  sustain  a  man  on  his  level  through  long  years  of  arduous 
toil.  He  was  becoming  the  accomplished  master  of  the  instru- 
ments that  God  put  in  his  hand  to  use  to  such  purposes  in  the 
forging  of  great  results. 

The  temperance  orator  used  his  spare  time  in  reading  and 
furbishing  the  weapons  in  his  intellectual  armory  to  a  high 
degree  of  polish  and  sharpness.  His  style  commenced  to  rise 
to  a  higher  dignity  than  of  old,  though  he  has  always  kept 
that  conversational  ease  and  directness,  which  on  important 


596  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

themes  are  so  much  more  efficient  in  grappling  the  hearts  of 
men  than  labored  diction  and  well  rounded  rhetorical 
periods.  Above  all,  the  well-spring  of  his  power,  his  tremend- 
ous earnestness  and  conviction  that  he  was  called  to  his  mis- 
sion by  the  voice  of  God  himself,  got  deepened  and  settled  by 
his  experiences.  Truly  a  Pentecostal  harvest  in  the  salvation 
of  men  had  been  vouchsafed  him,  and  what  might  not  be  ex- 
pected of  him  by  those  who  had  early  welcomed  him,  and 
foreseen  the  results  that  were  to  follow  ! 

Francis  Murphy  was  too  humble,  too  sincere  a  Christian  not 
to  feel  that  the  main  fountain,  which  fed  his  wonderful 
power,  and  dispensed  its  healing  waters  in  a  thousand  limpid 
and  healing  rills  and  rivulets,  came  by  the  power  of  God.  It 
was  in  recognition  of  this  fact  that  the  orator  kept  himself 
close  to  his  Heavenly  Father  in  prayer.  His  public  addresses 
are  full  of  devout  acknowledgments  of  this  source  of 
strength,  and  a  lesson  might  be  read  to  the  world  through 
this  striking  illustration  of  the  dependence  of  human  effort  on 
the  inexhaustible  source  of  all  spiritual  strength. 

It  is  in  virtue  of  this  fact,  that  Mr.  Murphy  has  always 
linked  religion  with  the  temperance  reform  in  every  possible 
way.  He  had  known  from  terrible  experience  how  difficult  it 
is  for  man  to  stand  alone,  to  battle  against  temptation  and  the 
hydra  evil  of  a  giant  appetite,  without  calling  in  every  possi- 
ble aid  and  resource.  He  himself  had  realized  the  potent  re- 
enforcement  found  in  the  warm  Christian  sympathy  of  indi- 
viduals and  communities.  So  the  Murphy  work  from  the 
very  outset  placed  itself  side  by  side  with  the  religious  ele- 
ment in  society,  and  enlisted  not  merely  the  aid  of  the 
individual  Christian,  but  of  church  societies  as  organized 
institutions  for  work.  This  probably  has  been  one  of  the 
powerful  influences  in  the  movement  throughout,  in  utilizing 
and  consolidating  results,  as  well  as  joining  the  emotional 
nature  in  the  ardent  enthusiasm  required  to  commence  the 
work.  Murphy  acted  on  .this  principle  from  the  outset  with 
great  earnestness.  But  in  appealing  to  church  influence  and 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  597 

assistance,  o'lr  orator  was  careful  to  avoid  any  appeal  to  sec- 
tarian bitterness  and  prejudice.  In  many  cases  attempts 
were  made  by  powerful  denominational  influences  to  get  such 
an  influence  on  the  Murphy  movement  in  certain  places,  as  to 
control  it  and  make  its  results  redound  to  the  glory  and  gain 
of  particular  societies. 

All  such  attempts  the  subject  of  our  sketch  assiduously  dis- 
countenanced, for  he  knew  what  seeds  of  rankling  discord  and 
discontent  could  thus  be  sown.  All  his  tact  and  good  man- 
agement were  sometimes  necessary  to  prevent  evil  consequen- 
ces from  ensuing,  and  he  won,  thus  early  in  his  career,  the 
admiration  and  love  of  those  who  watched  him,  as  much  by  his 
skill  in  riding  over  these  obstacles,  as  by  his  fervid  eloquence 
and  force  as  a  platform  orator.  Mr.  Murphy's '  views  on  this 
subject  are  very  well  expressed  in  an  extemporaneous  speech 
he  made  some  time  after  from  the  balcony  of  a  hotel  at  At- 
lantic City.  Though  in  chronological  order  this  address  anti- 
cipates time,  it  is  so  pat  to  the  matter  under  discussion  that  we 
are  impelled  to  give  it.  It  is  such  a  good  specimen  of  his 
average  style  of  effort  too,  that  it  is  presented  in  full.  On 
this  occasion  the  great  apostle  of  temperance  reform  said  : 

"  MY  FRIENDS  : — I  thank  you  for  this  generous  reception 
in  this  beautiful  city  by  the  sea.  I  have  a  heart  that  feels 
and  a  memory  that  never  forgets.  A  good  deed  brings  its 
timely  reward,  and  there  is  a  satisfaction  in  performing  good 
deeds  to  those  who  most  need  them.  There  are  thousands 
throughout  the  land  who  need  good  deeds — who  need  to  be 
lifted  up  from  where  they  have  fallen  through  their  liking  for 
strong  drink.  Let  us  throw  our  temperance  banner  tov  the 
breeze.  Let  temperance  and  charity  be  our  watchwords.  I 
am  glad  that  I  am  here  to-night  to  speak  to  you  on  this  impor- 
tant subject,  for  I  feel  that  each  and  all  of  you  can  do  some- 
thing toward  reclaiming  those  who  need  wise  counsel  and  gen- 
uine love  to  dissuade  them  from  their  folly.  Let  us  seek  the 
truth.  It  is  precious — more  precious  than  the  Avealth  of  the 
world.  When  we  find  it,  let  us  disseminate  it.  Let  us  show 


598  THE    LIFE    AND   WOEK   OF 

the  poor,  unfortunate  man  who  is  being  dragged  down  into 
the  sloughs  of  poverty  and  disgrace,  through  a  diseased  appe- 
tite, what  will  be  the  re3ult  of  his  folly.  Speak  kindly  to 
him  and  try  hard  to  save  him. 

"  We,  in  our  humble  places,  can  make  the  world  better  for 
having  lived  in  it.  The  beautiful  ocean  which  looms  up  before 
us  thrills  us  with  its  beauty  and  grandeur.  It  touches  the 
divinity  within  us — that  divinity  which  teaches  us  to  be  purer, 
better,  and  more  truthful.  In  all  nature  we  -find  lessons  of 
portentous  import.  In  all  things  God's  handiwork  and  His 
loving  kindness  are  to  be  seen.  This  world  is  not  so  bad  as  we 
would  make  it,  for  it  is  a  good  world,  and  I  would  like  to  stay 
in  it  a  great  while. 

""We  are  here  to  talk  about  a  subject  old  and  threadbare — • 
at  least,  some  people  say  so  ;  but  there  is  still  something  to 
say  against  rum-drinking.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  man  who 
resolves  to  break  away  from  the  terrible  curse  of  drinking  has 
made  great  progress.  This  is  a  world  that  is  a  schoolhouse. 
Temptation  is  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left  hand.  The 
man  is  not  to  be  thanked  for  not  falling  when  there  is  no 
temptation  ;  but  the  man  who  resists  temptation  is  entitled  to 
commendation. 

"  The  principle  for  us  to  teach  is  that  men  shall  consecrate 
themselves  to  an  honorable  life.  Legislation  can  never  make 
people  temperate  or  bring  them  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  It 
is  only  the  grace  of  God  which  can  divert  men  from  their  evil 
course. 

"  It  is  not  necessary  for  men  to  become  sectarian  in  their 
views  to  be  God-like  men — temperate  men  ;  but  it  is  necessary 
that  men  should  seek  God's  mercy  to  strengthen  them  in  their 
righteous  resolutions.  How  are  we  to  be  saved,  is  the  great 
question  of  to-day. 

"  Men  want  to  be  cured  and  saved.  "When  men  have  be- 
come reckless  and  lissipated,  how  are  they  to  be  saved  ?  By 
kindness,  and  kindness  only.  The  kind  touch  of  the  Christian 
hand  is  sweet  with  the  fragrance  of  heaven.  I  know  what 


FRANCIS    MUEPHY.  599 

kindness  is,  for  I've  tasted  of  the  bitter  dregs  in  the  cup  of 
dire  poverty. 

"Kindness  i,3  never  forgotten  by  the  true  heart.  I  know 
what  it  is.  I  have  had  it  extended  to  me.  The  princi- 
ples of  Christ  as  preached  on  the  Mount  should  be  carried  out 
by  every  one. 

"  The  reclaiming  power  of  love  is  great ;  aye,  it  is  power- 
ful ;  yes,  it  is  most  potent.  I  know  this,  for  I  have  seen  the 
most  degraded  taken  from  the  very  gutter.  It  pays  to  be 
kind  ;  it  pays  to  be  merciful.  Speak  the  kind  word  ;  perform 
the  kind  act.  It  may  be  your  passport  to  eternal  bliss.  Away 
out  in  the  far-away  State  of  Iowa,  I  met  a  man  who  had  fallen 
low,  yea,  to  the  very  depths  of  dire  degradation,  through 
drinking  from  the  accursed  cup.  He  came  to  one  of  my  meet- 
ings. He  signed  the  pledge,  and  abandoned  the  fiend  that 
dragged  him  down.  The  family  that  he  had  disgraced  was 
made  happy,  and,  what  is  more,  he  kept  the  pledge,  and  ob- 
tained fifty  thousand  signatures  to  it. 

"  The  Church  of  God  is  like  the  hospital  for  those  who  are 
sick.  The  ministers  are  the  physicians.  "We  must  feed  the 
starving.  We  can't  stop  to  ask  what  has  made  them  hungry. 
God's  love  is  great.  He  does  not  forsake  the  lowly.  Why 
should  we  ?  God  is  in  the  man,  and  God  is  in  the  woman. 

"Don't  become  discouraged  in  working  among  the  lowly. 
They  are  a  part  of  God's  people.  They  shall  be  washed  purer 
than  snow,  and  be  brought  back  unto  the  fold  of  Christ. 

"  Beware  of  the  wine-cup.  It  is  a  snare  and  it  is  a  delusion, 
Six  years  ago  I  was  not  known,  except  for  my  dissipation. 
Then  I  could  not  control  myself ;  but  now  I  know  that  I  am 
redeemed  from  the  accursed  cup.  Drinking  men  should  make 
an  effort  to  help  themselves,  and  others  will  aid  them  in  their 
noble  effort. 

"  Let  us  be  the  master  and  not  the  servant  of  King  Alcohol. 
A  glorious  victory  awaits  us,  and  God  shall  give  us  a  blessed 
deliverance."  (Great  applause.) 

Prior  to  his  great  revival  season  at  Pittsburgh,  which  lifted 


600  THE    LIFE  AND   WOEK   OP 

his  name  from  merely  local  celebrity  to  a  fame  as  wide  as  the 
continent,  Mr.  Murphy  had  already  carefully  organized  his 
plan  of  Avork  and  studied  the  various  agencies  necessary  to 
carry  on  the  arduous  campaign  against  a  foe  so  powerfully 
intrenched  and  fortified  in  the  habits  and  passions  of  men.  His 
experience  had  revealed  to  him  all  the  insidious  appeals  which 
the  love  of  alcohol  makes  to  the  frailty  of  humanity.  To  win 
back  the  lost,  besotted  in  their  own  evil  appetites,  with  their 
consciences  glozed  over  by  all  the  specious  arguments  prompted 
by  perverse  desires  and  wishes,  and  bodily  functions  diseased 
by  the  terrible  love  for  the  most  dangerous  of  poisons,  it  was 
necessary  to  use  every  resource  known  to  the  wisdom  of  the 
student  of  human  nature,  as  well  as  the  magnetic  eloquence  of 
the  temperance  orator.  First,  the  religious  element  must  be 
utilized,  teaching  men  that  they  must  trust  to  a  higher  power 
than  their  own  hasty  repentance,  and  calling  in  the  sympathy 
and  encouragement  of  the  Christian  brethren.  Secondly,  the 
powerful  influence  of  woman,  so  effective  for  good  and  evil, 
which  has  played  so  important  a  part  in  all  the  social  and 
moral  revolutions  of  the  world. 

Thirdly,  Murphy  early  saw  that  to  reform  the  drunkard  per- 
manentty,  he  must  arouse  his  sense  of  self-respect,  so  long 
drugged  and  deadened.  The  converted  sot  must  be  made  to 
feel  that  he  is  a  man  among  men  once  more,  with  the  abilit}r 
to  be  useful  to  others,  and  to  be  recognized  as  one  of  the 
world's  workers. 

To  accomplish  this  as  far  as  possible,  Mr.  Murphy  borrowed 
a  feature  from  the  Methodist  discipline,  the  class  meeting  ;  or 
to  speak  more  accurately,  he  engrafted  on  the  conduct  of  the 
temperance  movement  the  systematic  narration  of  experiences 
on  the  part  of  those  who  had  signed  the  pledge  of  total  absti- 
nence. Aside  from  the  versatility  of  interest  given  by  this 
peculiar  method  of  conducting  his  public  meetings,  the  con- 
tagion of  example  proved  to  be  catching  and  inspiring  in  an 
astonishing  degree.  The  friends  of  the  reformed  watched  these 
exhibitions  of  the  birth  of  a  new  spirit  with  breathless  inter- 


FRANCIS    MUTCPHY.  601 

est ;  and  immense  throngs  were  drawn  who  might  not  have 
•been  alone  attracted  by  the  eloquent  appeals  of  the  leader  of 
the  movement  himself.  The  enthusiasm  poured  into  the  veins 
of  society  by  this  novel  agency  may  be  easily  imagined,  and 
the  acute  observer  may  very  well  attribute  to  this  course  a 
large  share  of  the  extraordinary  success  of  the  Murphy  meet- 
ings from  the  very  commencement  of  his  phenomenal  career  as 
an  agitator  of  temperance  reform. 

The  influence  exerted  over  men  themselves  by  this  interest- 
ing and  striking  method,  is  described  by  eye-witnesses  as 
something  thrilling  and  marvellous.  Some  poor  wretch,  just 
awakened  perhaps  to  a  full  sense  of  his  miserable  condition, 
the  light  dimly  struggling  through  his  clouded  brain  and 
conscience,  would  hear  a  familiar  voice  on  the  platform.  Rais- 
ing his  eyes  he  would  see  the  well-known  face  of  the  com- 
panion of  many  a  foul  debauch  standing  before  the  vast 
audience,  telling  with  broken  voice  and  simple  but  touching 
words  the  story  of  his  fall,  his  degradation,  and  of  his  new 
birth  ;  the  audience  trembling  with  sympathetic  attention  ; 
the  speaker  himself  lifted  into  manhood  and  self-respect  in  the 
thought  that  he  had  come  back  like  the  prodigal  son,  and  was 
welcome  into  the  fold  of  manly  usefulness,  dignity,  and 
equality. 

Fancy  the  thrill  that  would  tingle  through  every  nei've  and 
vein  of  the  listener !  He  himself,  too,  might  set  the  seal  of 
public  confession  on  the  sincerity  of  his  repentance  and 
thereby  induce  others  to  reform  !  His  tremors,  his  hopes,  his 
aspirations  for  a  new  life  soon  seen  by  some  one  of  the  many 
watchful  and  attentive  laborers  in  the  cause,  anxiously  watch- 
ing for  the  blessed  signs.  In  a  moment  all  the  sluggish  in- 
stincts of  good,  which  had  become  almost  dead,  would  leap 
into  full-born  activity,  and  another  convert  to  manhood  and 
respectability  have  taken  his  first  step  in  a  new  life.  Many  of 
the  scenen  enacted  at  the  Murphy  meetings  throughout  the 
land  have  been  startlingly  dramatic  and  striking,  and  we  can- 
not wonder  that  the  great  wave  of  reform  should  have  rolled 


002  THE   LIFE  AND  WOKK  OF 

with  such  tremendous  sweep  throughout  different  parts  of  the 
nation. 

Before  entering  on  any  detailed  account  of  the  leading  re- 
vivals which  have  marked  the  Murphy  movement,  let  us  get 
at  some  clear  conception  of  the  man  and  his  methods  as  actually 
at  work.  The  personal  appearance  and  oratorical  manner  of 
the  temperance  reformer  have  already  been  sketched.  A  man 
of  massive  frame  and  will,  his  whole  soul  is  in  the  great  work. 
He  evidently  feels  himself  a  king  annointed  directly  by  the 
Divine  purpose,  and  he  impresses  this  on  the  people  who  hear 
him.  Let  us  sketch  such  a  scene  as  has  occurred,  with  trifling 
modifications,  a  thousand  times. 

A  great  audience  is  assembled  waiting  for  the  arrival  of  the 
man  who  is  the  centre  figure  of  all  the  great  interest,  which 
lies  pent  up  in  the  throng.  Eyes  are  frequently  turned  to  the 
door,  that  they  may  catch  the  first  glimpse  of  him.  Vagrants 
and  tatterdemalions,  the  offscourings  of  the  gutter  and  the 
rum-shop  make  up  a  large  part  of  the  waiting  people.  Their 
imbruted  hearts  have  been  pierced  with  a  ray  of  keen  and 
poignant  emotion  ;  for  they  have,  somehow,  an  idea  that  this 
night  may  be  the  turning  point  of  a  wretched  existence.  Sud- 
denly a  thrill  runs  through  them.  A  little  stir  at  the  door,  and 
somehow  the  knowledge  passes  from  heart  to  heart  that  Mur- 
phy has  come.  The  audience  arise  to  their  feet  as  a  single 
man.  As  the  broad  form  of  the  orator  buffets  his  way  through 
the  eager  crowds,  it  is  like  a  swimmer  cleaving  the  waves, 
for  they  press  eagerly  around  him,  closing  up  in  front  and 
rear,  every  hand  extended  to  clasp  his. 

Women  with  streaming  eyes  bless  him,  for  their  hearts  are 
full  of  gratitude  to  the  man  who  they  belieye  likely  to  be  the 
savior  of  their  husbands,  their  fathers,  their  sons.  Stalwart 
and  bearded  men  shake  with  emotion,  for  they  have  found  in 
him  a  strong  pillar  of  hope  and  encouragement,  an  influence 
mighty  to  save  from  the  fiendish  curse  of  rum.  Murphy's 
strong,  massive  features,  wavering  between  a  smile  and  a  tear, 
for  he  has  the  strong  Irish  sense  of  humor,  and  he  is  both 


FRANCIS    MTJEPHT.  603 

touched  and  amused  by  the  feeling  he  excites,  respond  to  all 
the  emotions.  At  last  he  pushes  his  way  through  the  human 
billows,  that  choke  his  way  to  the  platform. 

A  short,  pungent,  telling  speech  follows.  Every  word  preg- 
nant with  meaning,  and  hitting  the  bull's  eye  like  a  rifle  bullet. 
His  language  has  no  graces  of  rhetoric,  no  ornaments  of  fine 
phrase;  but  it  is  terribly  earnest  and  direct,  the  burning  utter- 
ance of  a  heart  which  looks  on  its  burden  as  of  paramount 
importance  to  humanity.  There  is  no  thought  to  tickle  the 
fancy  or  please  a  fine  esthetic  taste,  but  the  picture  on  the 
platform  is  that  of  a  great  strong  soul  wrestling  with  some 
enemy.  The  impassioned  orator  quivers  with  the  intensity  of 
his  feeling,  gi-eat  beads  of  sweat  roll  from  his  face,  as  he  stalks 
up  and  down  the  platform,  which  seems  to  be  too  narrow  for 
his  standing  room,  and  he  strikes  the  table  with  resounding 
blows  from  time  to  time,  as  if  he  were  smiting  some  invisible 
but  yet  terrible  foe.  An  experienced  and  clever  critic  in 
speaking  of  the  Irish  temperance  orator,  says  of  him  : 

"  His  remarks  make  it  apparent  that  his  forte  lies  rather  in 
addressing  drunkards,  and  holding  meetings  for  their  conver- 
sion, than  in  lecturing  to  large  audiences  of  temperance  people. 
The  story  of  his  life  as  related,  to  be  sure,  is  of  interest,  but 
his  pleadings  and  exhortations  are  of  little  force  in  such  in- 
stances. He  is,  indeed,  a  man  like  Moody,  and  other  lay 
preachers,  big  with  the  sense  of  his  mission,  possessing  a  pow- 
erful constitution,  much  magnetism,  great  hopefulness,  and 
an  indomitable  will.  These,  combined  with  his  Irish  versatility 
and  ready  wit,  make  up  the  man.  Beside  he  is  a  fervent 
Methodist  and  an  incessant  hand-shaker." 

As  Murphy  goes  on  in  his  address,  sighs  of  irrepressible  fervor 
and  sympathy  break  out  in  the  audience.  Exclamations  break 
out  similar  to  those  heard  at  revival  and  camp-meetings,  and 
the  people  sway  at  every  turn  to  each  thought  and  feeling  of 
the  speaker.  When  he  closes  his  short  and  telling  speech  (for 
all  his  speeches  are  short),  some  singer,  appointed  for  the 
purpose,  leads  the  audience  in  a  hymn  or  temperance  song, 


604  .  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 

which  pours  forth  with  passionate  melody  as  if  a  necessary 
relief  for  the  emotions  evoked  by  Murphy's  address.  The  ex- 
ercises which  follow  are  best  described  in  Murphy's  own 
language,  as,  for  example,  in  his  conversation  with  a  newspaper 
reporter  at  a  camp-meeting  at  Chataqua,  N.  Y. 

REPORTER. — "  Do  you  propose  to  continue  your  work  on 
the  same  plan  as  it  has  begun  ?" 

MR.  MURPHY. — "  Exactly  so.  It  has,  under  God,  been  a 
great  success,  and  I  am  confident  that  it  may  yet  be  made 
more  so." 

REPORTER. — "But  you  can't  go  everywhere  and  preach 
this  gospel  of  reform.  How  do  you  expect  to  have  it  spread  ?" 

MR.  MURPHY. — "  I  am  enlisting  young  men  everywhere  I 
can  find  them  of  the  right  kind.  When  a  man  signs  the  pledge 
and  makes  up  his  mind  to  try,  under  God,  to  keep  it,  I  imme- 
diately make  him  talk  about  it,  and  about  the  second  or  third 
time  he  speaks  I  announce  him  for  the  principal  man  at  a 
meeting.  I  tell  him  to  tell  the  people  how  his  wife  and  his 
children  and  himself  suffered,  and  how  he  spent  all  his  money 
on  Saturday  night  before  he  came  home,  and  then  told  his 
poor  discouraged  wife,  when  he  arrived  home  late  at  night, 
that  he  had  been  delayed  and  the  firm  for  which  he 
worked  could  not  pay  him,  and  thus  he  got  in  debt  and  his 
wife  got  worse  and  more  discouraged  and  everything  was 
wrong.  When  it  is  announced  that  this  man  will  speak,  his 
old  associates,  with  a  peculiar  turn  of  the  large  tobacco  quid 
in  their  mouths  and  a  wink  of  the  besotted  eye,  say  to  each 
other,  '  Bill  is  going  to  make  a  temperance  lecture  to-night ; 
let's  go.'  And  they  do  go,  and  they  arrange  themselves  right 
in  front  of  the  stand  to  scai'e  him,  you  see." 

REPORTER. — "  Don't  these  men  thus  put  forward  break 
down  in  their  speeches  ?" 

MR.  MURPHY. — "  Not  often.  A  man  can  tell  the  simple 
story  of  his  follies,  as  I  have  told  you  ;  and  when  he  rises  to 
do  so,  and  is  introduced  by  some  kind  words,  he  makes  a  great 
effort,  and  as  he  goes  on  with  the  relation  of  one  foolish  and 


FEANCIS    MUKPHY.  605 

simple  act  after  another,  his  friends  hunch  each  other  and  say, 
'  That's  so,  Tom ;  that's  just  the  way  we  all  on  us  do.  Bill 
knows  just  how  it  is.  He  is  happy  now.  Did  you  hear  'im 
say  as  how  happy  his  wife  is,  and  he  says  his  children  run  to 
meet  him,  now  he's  sober,  when  he  comes  home.  Let's  us  try 
it,  and  see  if  our  wives  and  children  will  do  as  his  do.'  In 
this  way,  don't  you  see,  the  work  of  these  men  is  very  effect- 
ive." 

REPORTER. — "  You  intend  that  these  men  shall  do  the  work, 
then  ?" 

MR.  MURPHY. — "  A  large  part  of  it.  I  shall  do  all  I  can  so 
long  as  God  lets  me  live.  -But  the  great  work  I  expect  to 
have  done  by  an  army  of  workers,  who  shall  go  over  the  coun- 
try from  Maine  to  California  (I  started  in  Maine),  and  preach 
the  gospel  to  the  lost.  I  have  had  invitations  to  go  to  New 
York,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  Baltimore,  Boston,  and  many  other 
large  cities  of  the  country.  I  have  not  decided  where  I  shall 
go  yet,  and  don't  want  to  decide.  I  am  not  at  all  desirous  of 
making  announcements  beforehand.  The  preparations  then 
are  too  elaborate,  and  I  don't  like  to  work  by  other  men's 
plans.  They  are  too  grand,  and  consist  in  too  much  announc- 

ing" 

REPORTER. — "  How  long  have  you  been  speaking  upon  the 
subject  of  temperance  ?" 

Mr.  MURPHY. — "  In  my  weak  way  ever  since  I  was  made  a 
free  man  in  1870.  I  then  began  in  a  very  feeble,  stammering 
way  to  pray  and  to  speak.  At  first  I  would  get  way  up  in  the 
corner,  where  I  thought  as  few  as  possible  would  sae  me,  and 
I  talked  as  low  as  possible  ;  but  I  grew  in  grace,  God  helping 
me." 

As  we  have  before  stated,  though  Mui*phy's  labors  were 
highly  successful  during  the  earlier  part  of  his  career,  it  was 
not  till  he  came  to  Pittsburgh  in  the  fall  and  winter  of  1876 
-77,  that  he  became  a  mighty  name  and  recognized  power 
throughout  America.  The  movement  there  inaugurated  was 
so  grand  as  to  trumpet  forth  the  man's  fame  from  sea  to  sea. 


606  THE  LIFE  AND  WOEK   OF 

Pittsburgh,  the  Birmingham  or  Sheffield  of  America,  the 
great  city  of  the  workers  of  steel  and  iron,  was  a  peculiarly 
available  city  for  his  efforts.  Nowhere  in  the  country  was 
drunkenness  more  rife,  and  the  devil  of  drink  so  potent  a  mon- 
arch over  the  hearts  of  men.  The  large  number  of  artisans 
and  mechanics  collected,  embracing  many  foreigners  of  differ- 
ent nationalities,  gave  a  peculiar  social  element  to  the  city 
dangerous  in  the  extreme,  as  the  material  for  that  conflagra- 
tion of  the  passions  and  appetites  involved  in  rum-drinking. 
Above  the  city  floats  an  eternal  gray  pall,  the  smoke  of  in- 
numerable furnaces  and  factories,  and  the  clang  of  steam  and 
trip  hammers  reverberates  incessantly  on  the  air  like  a  mighty 
roll  of  drums.  The  dominion  of  the  rum-seller  was  like  an 
iron  chain,  and  perhaps  Pittsburgh,  and  its  neighbor,  Alleg- 
hany,  might  be  selected  as  in  many  respects  typical  cities  for 
the  Murphy  work.  The  time  came  and  the  work  commenced. 
The  business  of  the  manufacturers  was  very  much  depressed 
on  account  of  the  hard  times,  and  thousands  and  thousands  of 
hands  had  been  thrown  out  of  work  or  were  laboring  on  half- 
time.  The  large  amount  of  leisure,  and  the  discouragement 
consequent  on  lack  of  employment,  operated  with  unusual  force 
to  fill  the  shops  of  the  dealers  in  liquid  death,  with  customers 
anxious  to  drown  their  troubles,  or  to  while  away  the  long 
dreary  hours.  The  opportunity  for  a  grand  work  was  there. 
So  the  hour  and  the  man  also  came,  and  a  whole  continent 
clashed  with  the  echoes  of  the  tremendous  results,  that  were 
forged  out  by  the  magnetic  ardor  and  powerful  will  of  a  strong 
leader,  aided,  to  be  sure,  by  eager  assistants,  but  still  wrought 
in  the  main  by  the  indomitable  force  and  novel  methods,  act- 
ing on  raw  material,  eminently  fit  and  ready  for  the  ex- 
periment. 

The  father  of  this  great  Pittsburgh  reform  movement  is 
George  Woods,  LL.  D.,  the  Chancellor  of  the  Western  Uni- 
versity. This  gentleman  is  studious  and  scholarly.  His  life 
path  runs  in  an  entirely  different  direction  from  that  of  vice 
and  wickedness,  and  yet,  he  has  stepped  aside,  and  strives  to 


FEANCIS    MTJEPHY.  607 

save  those  unfortunate  beings  lost  to  honor  and  purity.  He 
was  born  in  Yarmouth,  Maine  ;  comes  from  a  noble  State 
that  has  done  more  than  any  of  the  States  in  the  cause  of  in- 
temperance. It  may  be  here  remarked,  that  the  foundations 
of  the  great  and  noble  principles  that  have  captured  Pitts- 
burgh, and  have  caused  nearly  all  public  emotions  to  beat  in 
unison  with  them,  were  first  laid  in  that  dear  old  New  Eng- 
land State  ;  and  that  to  her  we  are  indebted  for  untold  good 
and  blessings.  George  Woods  is  the  possessor  of  a  great  heart 
— a  heart  that  goes  out  to  the  sufferers  unrestrainedly.  He  is 
very  sympathetic,  and  his  love  for  humanity  of  no  slight 
magnitude — a  love  that  lives,  and  grows,  despite  non-success 
and  disheartening  results.  He  worked  for  years  to  establish 
some  institution  in  Pittsburgh  of  the  nature  of  a  reform.  He 
was  greeted  with  very  little  sympathy  ;  he  had  scarcely  any 
success.  Few  persons  seemed  to  care  whether  the  drunkards 
were  rescued  or  not.  It  was  a  vast  deal  of  trouble,  mentally 
and  physically,  to  go  forward,  and  try  to  reclaim  these 
wretches  that  were  black  blots  on  the  community.  Even 
the  laity  had  the  appearance  of  indifference,  and  no  one 
seemed  disposed  to  exert  himself  practically  in  the  cause. 
Intemperance  was  so  black  and  low,  that  many,  being  happily 
situated  where  it  only  come  occasionally,  like  an  ungentle 
wind,  were  not  ready,  or  willing,  to  meet  it  face  to  face,  with 
the  purpose  of  killing  it.  It  was  a  kind  of  contamination  to 
approach  it  thus  closely.  These  people  were  not  hard,  and 
cold,  and  unsympathetic ;  once  aroused,  they  would  not  hold 
aloof  from  the  drunkard.  They  were  simply  indifferent. 
This  was  the  Chan-cellor's  estimation  of  the  Pittsburgh  people. 
Future  developments  have  proven  him  correct  in  his  conclu- 
sion. He,  having  failed  to  awaken  the  interest  and  sympathy 
of  one  class,  addressed  himself  to  another.  Here  he  met  en- 
couragement, and  the  initial  of  the  movement  that  is  now 
known  throughout  this  country,  and  recognized  by  the  fair 
lands  across  the  foaming  deep.  It  will  be  interesting  to  give 


608  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

the  first  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  society.  They  are 
as  follows  : 

"On  the  evening  of  Friday,  March  2,  1876,  a  number  of 
persons  assembled  by  arrangement  in  the  Chancellor's  room, 
at  the  Western  University,  to  consider  the  advisability  of  es- 
tablishing a  temperance  organization.  After  some  informal 
remarks,  the  meeting  was  called  to  order.  Addresses  of 
g  >me  length  were  made  by  Chancellor  Woods  and  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Travelli,  who  detailed  their  experiences  in  this  direc- 
tion in  other  parts  of  the  country.  At  nine  o'clock  the  meet- 
ing adjourned,  to  assemble  in  the  same  place  on  Tuesday, 
March  7,  1876."  This  was  the  first  step  taken  towards  the 
movement  from  which  such  infinite  good  has  sprung,  and 
which  is  now  so  well  known.  At  the  second  meeting,  they 
came  to  this  agreement  :  "  We  form  ourselves  into  an  asso- 
ciation, with  the  purpose  of  abstaining  entirely  from  the  use 
of  all  intoxicating  liquors,  including  beer  and  ale  ;  and  of 
inducing,  by  kindness,  sympathy  and  love,  all  others,  wholly 
to  abstain  from  their  use." 

At  the  third  meeting  the  following  constitution  and  by-laws 
were  adopted : 

PREAMBLE. 

In  view  of  the  great  evils  in  every  form  of  intemperance,  to 
individuals,  families,  communities,  and  our  nation,  especially 
of  the  exposure  of  our  young  men  to  shame,  suffering  and 
ruin,  we  hereby  form  ourselves  into  an  association,  to  be  gov- 
erned by  the  following  constitution  : 

Article  1.  This  association  shall  be  called  "The  Young 
Men's  Temperance  Union." 

Article  2.  The  object  shall  be  by  its  members  abstaining 
entirely  from  the  use  of  all  alcholic  liquors,  including  beer 
and  ale,  and  by  their  kind  and  sympathizing  influence  over 
each  other,  and  by  their  efforts  for  others  to  bring  them  into 
the  association  ;  to  save  the  young  from  the  dangers  to  which 
they  are  exposed,  and  to  rescue  those  who  have  already  be- 
come victims  to  this  prolific  source  of  vice  and  crime. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  609 

Article  3.  It  proposes  to  accomplish  this  object  by  frequent 
meetings  for  discussion,  by  addresses  and  social  intercourse, 
and  when  its  members  and  means  will  allow,  by  securing 
pleasant  rooms,  where  its  members  can  meet 'at  any  hour  of  the 
day  or  evening,  and  where  newspapers,  books,  and  light  re- 
freshments of  the  best  quality,  at  the  bare  cost,  can  be  had, 
to  which  others  can  be  invited. 

Article  4.  Its  officers  shall  be  a  president,  five  vice-presi- 
dents, secretary,  treasurer,  and  executive  committee,  consist- 
ing of  five,  whose  duties  shall  be  such  as  usually  belongs  to 
such  officers. 

Article  5.  Any  person  may  become  a  member  of  this  asso- 
ciation by  signing  this  constitution  and  expressing  his  pur- 
pose to  conform  to  article  2. 

Article  6.  Alterations  and  amendments  may  be  made  to  this 
constitution  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present 
at  a  regular  meeting,  notice  having  been  given  of  the  pro- 
posed alterations  and  amendments  at  a  regular  preceding 
meeting. 

AMENDMENTS. 

1.  The  president,  vice-presidents,  secretary,  treasurer,  and 
executive  committee,  shall  be  elected  on  the  first  Tuesday 
evening  of  April,  1877,  and  annually  thereafter.  The  execu- 
tive committee  shall  have  power  to  fill  any  vacancy  occasioned 
by  death  or  other  cause,  among  the  officers  or  executive  com- 
mittee. 

BY-LAWS. 

1.  It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  member  to  attend  all  meet- 
ings, so  far  as  his  time  and  circumstances  will  permit,  and  to 
exert  his  influences  for  the  good  of  the  members  and  others, 
who  may  be  addicted  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors. 

2.  Wherever  any  member  shall  fail  to  keep  his  purpose,  it 
shall  be  the  duty  of  the  other  members  to  use  all  kind  and 
persuasive  influences  to  restore  and  save  him,  in  conformity  to 
the  scriptural  injunction  to  be  "  compassionate  to  those  who 
are  out  of  the  way." 

26* 


610  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

i 

3.  Alterations  and  amendments  may  be  made  to  the  by-laws, 
by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  members  present  at  a  regular 
meeting,  notice  having  been  given  of  the  proposed  alterations 
or  amendments  at  a  regular  preceding  meeting. 

From  this  time  the  beloved  project  that  had  been  in  the 
Chancellor's  head  for  so  long  a  time  assumed  the  aspect  of  a 
certainty. 

From  this  movement  sprang  our  present  great  temperance 
cause.  This  association  confined  itself  to  one  principle  and 
one  purpose.  The  people  in  it  were  Christians  ;  but  Chancel- 
lor Woods'  plain  and  practical  sense  managed  to  keep  them 
clear  of  all  elements  outside  of  the  aforesaid  principle  and 
purpose.  It  has  been  well  said  by  a  noted  authority  that  "  the 
key-note  to  the  grand  success  of  the  Young  Men's  Temperance 
Union  is  '  Good  will  toward  all,  but  devotion  to  no  particular 
one.' " 

"In  reference,"  says  an  early  minute  of  the  society,  "to 
the  subject  of  opening  and  closing  the  meetings  with  prayer, 
which  was  then  brought  up,  it  was  decided  that  it  should  be 
left  to  the  discretion  of  the  presiding  officer." 

Dr.  Woods  made  a  motion,  "  that  any  one  who  may  have 
violated  his  pledge,  or  knew  of  another  having  done  so, 
should  make  it  known,  if  so  disposed."  This  was  adopted  ; 
and  there  was  no  such  thing  in  the  organization  as  a  black 
sheep,  or  an  excommunication.  Those  that  signed  the  pledge, 
and  fell,  were  not  expelled  from  the  association,  but  helped  to 
regain  his  footing  in  the  path  of  right.  They  were  taken  in 
again,  and  allowed  all  the  privileges  of  full  membership. 

On  the  24th  day  of  October,  at  the  meeting,  a  letter  was 
read  "  from  Mr.  Murphy,  a  celebrated  temperance  lecturer." 
The  president,  Mr.  W.  C.  Moreland,  was  requested  to  secure 
the  valuable  services  of  Marshal  Swartzwalder,  but  failed  in 
doing  so.  Here  we  have  the  first  glimpse  at  Francis  Murphy 
and  Marshal  Swartzwalder,  giants  in  the  fight  against  intem- 
perance. The  last  minute  of  the  society  was  the  record  of  the 
meeting  of  November  21st,  and  was  as  follows  :  "It  was  voted 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  611 

that  the  thanks  of  the  association  be  tendered  to  Dr.  Woods 
for  his  promptness  in  writing  to  Mr.  Murphy,  and  also  that 
the  association  fully  endorses  the  action  taken  by  the  Chancel- 
lor for  securing  Mr.  Murphy's  services."  It  was  also  voted 
that  "  a  committee,  consisting  of  Dr.  Woods,  and  Messrs.  Mc- 
Masters  and  Arnold,  be  appointed  to  arrange  with  Mr.  Mur- 
phy, and  settle  all  the  business  necessary  for  holding  the 
lectures,  including  the  securing  of  a  room  or  church." 

These  are  the  last  words  recorded  ;  for  the  work  that 
crowded  the  following  week  left  no  time  in  which  to  note 
the  manifold  events  of  one  of  the  grandest'movements  known 
to  man ;  for  this  temperance  wave  deserves  the  highest 
praise,  it  being  the  blessed  means  of  bringing  back  fallen  man 
to  his  pristine  glory.  Mr.  Murphy's  engagement  was  origin- 
ally for  eight  lectures,  at  twenty-five  dollars  a  lecture.  When, 
however,  the  interest  and  attention  of  the  whole  community 
was  directed  to  this  cause,  he  was  retained  for  an  indefinite 
period,  the  price  of  his  services  and  expenses  being  put  at  a 
salary  of  $125  a  week.  When  the  movement  was  scarted, 
about  eighty  dollars  lay  in  the  treasury  of  the  union  ;  and  the 
lecturer  was  engaged  while  it  was  in  that  low  state. 

The  receipts  of  the  Sunday  evening  lectures  in  Library  Hall 
amounted  to  about  $3,000  ;  and  this  defrayed  the  expenses  of 
the  crusade.  The  expenses  were  the  salaries  to  Mr.  Murphy, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lincoln,  as  organist  and  vocal  soloists  ;  rent  of 
halls,  services  of  janitors,  etc.,  etc.,  besides  the  money  loaned 
the  poor  men, 'who  had  reformed,  and  were  destitute.  Mr. 
Murphy's  first  lecture  was  delivered  in  the  Opera  House,  and 
the  others  delivered  in  different  churches. 

He  was  not  successful  at  the  outset.  Some  men,  known  in 
the  smoky  city  as  "  rough  and  tough  "  specimens  of  manhood, 
found  their  way  up  to  the  famous  lecturer's  feet  and  signed 
his  proffered  pledge.  This  pledge,  which  is  known  from  one 
point  to  another  of  this  vast  country,  is  as  follows  : 


612  THE   LIFE  AND  WOKK  OF 


YOUNG  MEN'S  TEMPERANCE  UNION. 


WITH    MALICE    TOWARDS    NONE    AND    CHARITY    FOR 
ALL. 


I,  the  undersigned,  do  pledge  my  word  and 
honor,  God  helping  me,  to  abstain  from  all  Intox- 
icating Liquors  as  a  beverage,  and  that  I  will,  by 
all  honorable  means,  encourage  others  to  abstain. 

FRANCIS  MURPHY 


Among  the  first  signers  were  Edward  Timmony,  George 
Hall,  David  Hall,  John  Irving,  Colonel  Hetherington,  S.  T. 
Paisley,  Frank  X.  Burns  and  Captain  Barbour. 

The  first  signers  were  chiefly  young  men,  known  as  "  hard 
drinkers."  The  reader  can  imagine  the  ridicule  flung  at 
them  by  the  community.  They  were  the  target  for  all  the 
ill-humored  things  one  man  can  say  of  another.  But  they  were 
brave  and  unflinching.  They  held  their  post  nobly.  And 
after  awhile  hundreds,  nay  thousands  rallied  around  them, 
and  hoisted  the  banner  of  temperance  gladly,  eagerly.  Mr. 
Murphy  made  a  novel,  and  most  interesting  departure  in  the 
lecture  field — he  made  his  converts  address  the  crowds  that 
rushed  to  his  meetings.  The  moment  a  man  was  enrolled  in 
the  lists  of  temperance  he  was  put  into  active  service.  And 
they  did  great  good,  working  in  the  cause  like  Trojans,  and 
making  often  brilliant  and  telling  speeches  in  their  warm 
enthusiasm. 

Curiosity  drew  a  vast  number  of  people  to  Mr.  Murphy's 
meetings  ;  and,  after  hearing  him,  these  people  returned  to 
their  homes  filled  with  hope  and  faith,  and  praise  of  God. 
This  movement  was  to  reform  inebriates,  hardly  to  entertain 
those  sure  of  their  position,  and  not  given  to  the  indulgence 
of  intoxicants.  To  all  in  need  of  sympathy,  encouragement 
and  hope,  this  movement  opened  wide  its  arms,  and  especially 


FKANCIS    MURPHY.  613 

solicitous  was  it  to  those  poor,  imfortunate  beings  -down  in  the 
low,  degrading  depths  of  sin  and  dishonor. 

It  was  open,  frank,  and  conscientious  in  every  particular  ; 
and  not  the  lightest  shadow  of  sectarianism  fell  upon  it.  No 
attempts  were  made  to  bully  those  engaged  in  the  sale  of  the 
poison  ;  no  mask  hid  the  face  of  this  angel  of  mercy.  The 
movement  stood  out  from  the  beginning  in  its  true  color,  fair 
and  truthful  from  first  to  last.  It  was  indeed  the  perfect 
embodiment  of  those  noble  words  :  "  With  Malice  toward 
none,  and  Charity  for  all !"  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  whole 
populace  were  attracted,  captured,  and  carried  away  with 
delight  at  this  beacon-light  of  so  much  hope  and  promise, 
both  of  joy  and  peace  of  to-day,  and  of  the  vague,  uncertain 
to-morrow,  that  stretches  before  men's  dim  sight  like  some 
vast,  unknown  land  enveloped  in  dark  and  grim  shadows. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Murray's  Fifth  Avenve  M.  E.  Church  was 
secured,  and  from  this  edifice  thundered  forth  the  glowing 
words  of  salvation,  through  temperance,  to  hundreds  upon 
hundreds  of  eager  listeners,  sitting  under  the  spell  of  that 
powerful  and  beloved  voice. 

This  old  edifice  has  become  dearer  than  mere  words  can 
express,  to  the  community  of  the  smoky  city.  It  has  been 
christened  the  "  Old  Home  ;"  and  it  well  deserves  that  loving 
appellation.  Many  a  weary  soul  has  found  comfort  within 
those  walls  ;  and  there  many  a  lonely  and  suffering  soul  has 
been  brought  from  out  of  the  shade  into  the  sunlight.  The 
basement  of  the  church  was  used  for  charitable  purposes  ;  and 
was  the  scene  of  many  goodly  sights.  Mr.  Murray,  the 
pastor,  worked  zealously  in  the  cause,  giving  his  valuable 
services  whenever  there  was  any  need  of  them,  and  going 
about  doing  all  he  could  to  forward  temperance.  The  esteem 
in  which  he  is  wrapped,  and  the  love  the  people  have  for  him 
is  indeed  great ;  and  the  Fifth  Avenue  M.  E.  Church  is  re- 
garded affectionately  by  thousands. 

Five  thousand  persons  signed  the  pledge  in  the  fourth  week 
of  the  movement ;  and  ten  weeks  afterwards,  it  reached  the 


614  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

high  figure  of  forty  thousand.  These  figures  show  how  the 
community  of  Pittsburgh  felt,  and  in  what  light  it  regarded 
the  cause. 

The  maner  in  which  the  meetings  were  conducted  is  pecul- 
iarly original  and  interesting.  Some  reverend  gentleman 
present  would  generally  open  with  prayer.  At  the  outset 
it  was  somewhat  difficult  for  Mr.  Murphy  to  find  a  divine  in 
the  audience.  Looking  around  the  audience,  he  would  say  : 
"  If  there's  any  minister  of  the  gospel  present,  I  wish  he'd 
come  up  here,  and  pray  for  us."  This  earnest  appeal  often 
went  by  unheeded  ;  and  he,  himself,  would  be  obliged  to 
kneel  down,  and  conduct  the  prayer  instead.  This  state  of 
affairs  did  not  last  a  very  long  while,  for  soon  the  ministers 
gathered  about  him,  and  worked  nobly  and  well  with  him  in 
the  great  temperance  wave. 

The  regular  business  commences  after  the  prayer.  The 
singing  of  a  volunteer  choir,  which  is  always  on  hand,  is  one 
of  the  most  attractive  of  the  meetings,  and  is  heartily  enjoyed, 
and  participated  in  by  the  immense  congregations  that  assem- 
ble to  hear  Francis  Murphy  speak.  The  vocal  exercises  con- 
sist of  the  dear  old  Bliss  and  Sankey  tunes  that  we  love  so 
much— "Hold  the  Fort,"  "What  Shall  the  Harvest  Be?" 
"  Let  the  Lower  Lights  be  Burning,"  "  The  Sweet  By-and-By," 
and  "  I  Hear  Thy  Welcome  Voice."  The  last  mentioned  song 
is  Mr.  Murphy's  favorite  ;  and  he  always  asks  for  it.  There 
are  some  expressions  of  the  temperance  apostle  which  will  live 
lovingly  in  all  those  who  attended  the  meetings,  and  worked 
with  him  in  the  movement.  Who  can  forget,  who  has  once 
heard  his  wind  up  of  "  If  you  please,"  or  "  Won't  some- 
body please  say  '  Amen  ?' "  And  how  can  one  lose  sight 
of  his  "  Presbyterian,"  "  Just  a  word,  brothers,"  and  his  in- 
troductory of  "  Clothed  in  his  right  mind  ?" 

We  have  already  remarked  that  Mr.  Murphy  requests  his  con- 
verts to  work.  He  brings  them  forward  without  any  thought 
whatsoever  of  their  ability  to  tell  their  story  of  reformation 
from  drunkenness.  His  introductions  always  put  the  speaker 


FEANCIS    MURPHY.  615 

at  ease  and  in  excellent  humor,  and  as  a  matter  of  course  he 
speaks  well. 

For  instance,  Mr.  Murphy  will  generally  say  :  "  Brother 
George  Magoffin  will  now  tell  us  how  good  he  feels.  Brother 
George,  tell  the  people  how  happy  your  wife  and  little  ones 
are  since  you  signed  the  pledge."  And  forthwith,  a  man  of 
the  people  will  tell  the  secret  affairs  of  his  family  to  an  im- 
mense throng  of  listeners  with  an  ease  and  power  little  short 
of  the  marvellous.  Indeed  the  attention  and  sympathy  of  the 
vast  audiences  are  with  men  of  humble  circumstances,  and 
these  men  make  often  the  most  telling  speeches  at  the  Murphy 
meetings. 

We  find  such  names  prominent  in  the  movement,  gentlemen 
of  social  and  commercial  standing  in  Pittsburgh  who  signed 
the  pledge,  and  delivered  speeches  at  the  various  meetings,  as 
the  following  :  Hon.  J.  K.  Moorhead,  James  Parks,  Jr.,  Joseph 
Dilworth,  Josiah  Copely,  Chancellor  Woods,  Rev.  Travelli, 
Dr.  Scovel,  Marshal  Swartzwalder,  Colonel  Richard  Realf, 
William  C.  Moreland,  S.  T.  Paisley,  Gilbert  McMasters, 
George  Garber,  George  and  David  Hall,  F.  Johns,  George 
Potter,  John  Patterson,  William  Hill,  George  Woods,  Jr., 
William  Weyman,  Captain  Shannon,  Joseph  Hunter,  Colonel 
Hetherington,  Edward  Timmony,  Chief  of  Police  Ross,  Frank 
Burns,  Robert  Pollock,  Dr.  Mundorff,  Joseph  Woodson,  Dr. 
McClarren,  Joe  Cupples,  Daniel  Burk,  Harry  McGregor,  Felix 
R.  Brunot,  Captain  Barbour,  Thomas  McClellan,  and  many 
others. 

"  The  speeches,"  says  a  good  authority,  "  are  of  every  kind, 
from  grave  to  humorous.  Some  touching  pathetic  recital  of 
past  struggles  and  sorrows,  with  the  name  of  loved  ones,  of 
wife,  mother  or  children,  connected  with  it,  elicits  tears  ;  while 
following  this  may  come  some  quaint  reminiscences  of  services 
in  the  tanglefoot  battalion,  which  causes  a  broad  smile,  which 
frequently  deepens  into  a  ripple  of  laughter,  among  the  audi- 
ence. Applause  is  also  frequent  and  unstinted.  There  is  a 
sociability  about  the  whole  affair  that  is  singular  and  attract- 


61G  THE  LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

ive.  Chatting,  so  long  as  it  does  not  interfere  with  the  proceed- 
ings, is  by  no  means  considered  indecorous,  and  rarely  is  there 
seen  a  sea  of  happier  faces  than  fills  the  "  Old  Home." 

Incidents  of  interest  occur  almost  every  evening.  "At  the 
Smithfield  Street  M.  E.  Church,"  te  quote  again  from  the 
aforesaid  authority,  "  worthy  '  old  brimstone  corner,'  one 
evening,  a  young  man  stepped  up  and  signed  the  pledge. 
Scarcely  had  he  done  so,  when  a  young  woman,  with  a  babe 
in  her  arms,  came  forward,  and  falling  upon  his  neck,  kissed 
him  and  wept.  Drink  had  separated  the  young  couple,  and 
as  with  pledge  in  pocket,  and  the  baby  on  one  arm,  and  his 
wife  on  the  other,  the  husband  walked  through  the  crowd,  and 
received  the  congratulations  of  every  body,  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  Pittsburgh  held  not  a  happier  man." 

At  one  of  the  meetings  the  following  scene  excited  consid- 
erable sympathy  : 

A  lonely,  ragged  wretch  drew  nigh.  His  very  air  seemed 
to  say  :  See,  no  one  cares  for  me.  I  am  left  to  myself  !  Why 
do  I  wish  to  be  pure  and  good  ?  His  conscience  was  awake, 
and  would  not  slumber.  He  takes  the  pen,  and  frees  himself, 
by  one  stroke  of  it,  from  Satan.  He  turns  to  quit  the  place. 
He  meets  smiling  faces,  and  eager  extended  hands.  He  is  no 
longer  alone,  but  with  kind  friends  who  will  help  to  lead  him 
along  the  only  true  way. 

On  one  occasion  a  gentleman  of  most  pleasing  aspect  walked 
up  to  the  table  to  redeem  his  honor  and  himself  from  the  low 
depths  into  which  he  had  fallen  by  a  long  course  of  intemper- 
ance. As  lie  did  so,  a  bright  little  youngster,  in  charge  of  a 
lady,  clapped  his  hands  gleefully  together,  and  cried  out,  in 
ringing  tones  :  "  Oh,  auntie,  there's  papa  !  Look,  he's  going 
to  put  his  name  to  the  good  paper.  Let's  hurry  home,  and 
tell  dear  mamma.  She  will  be  so  glad  !" 

Sometimes  a  sou,  whose  feet  have  rambled  from  the  path 
of  rectitude,  will,  after  signing,  return  to  the  author  of  his 
existence,  and  then,  way  off  in  some  sheltered  corner,  mother 
and  son,  pressed  to  each  other's  breasts,  will  mingle  their  tear?* 


FEANCIS    MUPPIIY.  617 

of  love,  hope,  and  happiness  together,  while  the  audience  draws 
around  them  the  respect  of  privacy.  To  see  a  person  sign 
the  pledge  scatters  away  all  doubts  as  to  his  sincerity,  and 
earnestness  of  purpose.  He  does  so  with  solemnity,  and  with 
an  air  that  forbids  the  questioning  of  his  motive,  or  doubting 
it.  Strong,  brawny  men  go  forward,  and  annex  their  names 
to  the  pledge,  and  return  to  their  companions  with  moistened 
eyes,  and  seem  to  be  changed.  They,  have  overcome  their 
base  appetite,  have  regained  the  pristine  nobility  God  endowed 
them  with  ;  they  are  men  again.  There  is  a  tear  in  the  eye 
unused  to  tears,  and  a  quiver  of  lips  that  were  set  and  stern. 
They  have  cut  loose  from  sin  ;  they  have  saved  themselves. 
"Many  instances  of  what  Mr.  Murphy  has  been  pleased  to 
term  weddings,"  says  the  authority  from  whom  we  have  before 
quoted,  "  have  taken  place.  Family  ties  that  have  been  broken 
by  the  rude  hand  of  dissipation  have  been  mended,  and  es- 
trangements between  husbands  and  wives  brought  to  a  happy 
conclusion." 

An  incident  occurred  along  in  the  fifth  week  of  the  move- 
ment, that,  though  not  widely  known,  is  full  of  interest.  A 
young  man  of  good  social  position  in  Alleghany  had  long  been 
paying  his  attentions  to  a  very  pretty  and  accomplished  girl  in 
Pittsburgh.  They  were  engaged  to  be  married,  and  undoubt- 
edly loved  as  only  lovers  know  how. 

But  he  took  to  drink.  She  stood  by  him  through  thick  and 
thin,  and  it  was  not  until,  while  he  was  under  the  influence  of 
liquor,  he  had  offered  her  an  insult  beyond  the  power  of  her 
sex  to  condone,  that  she  finally,  at  the  importunate  solicita- 
tions of  friends,  gave  him  up.  She  nearly  died,  but  a  sound 
constitution  prevailed  and  placed  her  again  in  the  possession 
of  health,  but  loverless.  He  went-to  the  dogs.  Loss  of  posi- 
tion followed  loss  of  love.  For  three  years  he  squandered  his 
patrimony,  sacrificed  his  social  position,  and  ultimately  ended 
his  race  in  the  gutter ;  a  parody  on  what  he  had  been,  a  cari- 
catur/3  on  what  he  should  be.  In  tatterdemalion  attire  he  one 
evening  drifted  into  the  Murphy  meeting  at  the  "  Old  Home," 


618  THE   LIFE  AND   WOKK   OH 

and  signed  the  pledge.  Mr.  Murphy  seized  on  him  as  a  sub- 
ject for  testimony,  but  all  that  could  be  gotten  out  of  him 
were  a  few,  fierce,  bitter  words  of  hatred  for  the  author  of  his 
ruin,  and  a  few  of  earnest  but  cold  determination.  Then,  with 
eyes  on  the  floor  and  tightened  lips,  he  turned,  and  in  his  rags 
and  loneliness,  wended  his  way  from  the  crowd.  During  this 
scene  there  had  sat  in  the  gallery,  near  a  gas  jet,  a  young  lady, 
in  a  seal-skin  sacque.  She  expressed  no  visible  emotion,  or  in- 
deed recognition,  when  the  ragged  man  first  made  an  appear- 
ance. But  as  he  spoke  his  few  brief  remarks,  in  a  low  tone, 
the  face  of  the  fair  one  in  the  gallery  became  pallid,  and  her 
agitation  was  noticed  by  a  number  who  little  dreamed  of  its 
cause.  As  the  new  convert,  after  squeezing  his  way  out  of  the 
church,  was  passing  along  Fifth  street,  a  seal-skin  sacque 
brushed  against  him,  a  soft  little  hand  was  laid  on  his  arm,  and 
a  voice  he  knew  but  too  well,  spoke  an  endearing  name  of  the 
"  long  ago."  That  evening  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  life, 
fraught  with  much  promise  and  much  happiness. 

But  few  weeks  had  elapsed  before  the  interest  of  the  Pitts- 
burgh public  became  intense,  though  the  meetings  had  com- 
menced coldly.  The  fact,  that  some  very  prominent  and 
noted  men  in  local  circles,  men  whose  intemperate  habits  had 
seemed  to  be  past  reclamation,  men  whose  social  importance 
had  been  completely  sunk  and  betrayed  by  the  terrible  appe- 
tites which  had  enslaved  them,  had,  under  the  new  wave  of 
power  which  was  sweeping  over  the  city,  risen  again  to  the 
might  of  manhood  and  broken  their  fetters — this  fact,  we  say, 
startled  society  to  the  core,  and  aroused  even  the  indifferent 
into  warmth. 

Among  the  distinguished  lawyers  of  Western  Pennsylvania, 
for  many  years  has  stood  primus  inter  pares,  a  giant  among 
his  fellows,  Marshal  Swartzwalder,  Esq.  Superb  in  gifts, 
a  powerful  orator,  a  profoundly  read  and  recondite  stu- 
dent in  all  the  learning  of  his  profession,  a  thinker  of  exten- 
sive and  rounded  culture,  this  man  had  become  a  household 
name  from  the  number  of  celebrated  cases  in  which  he  had 


FKANCIS    MURPHY.  619 

taken  a  part.  One  colossal  vice,  however,  blasted  his  otherwise 
prosperous  life.  He  was  what  is  known  as  a  periodical  drunk- 
ard, a  victim  of  dipsomania.  These  frequently  recurring 
spasms  transferred  the  elegant  gentleman  and  honored  citizen 
into  a  dirty  vagabond,  oscillating  between  the  side-walk  and 
the  gutter,  a  ragged,  mud-bespattered,  senseless  idiot,  the  pity 
and  wonder  of  the  city  of  which  in  his  sober  moments  he  was 
the  pride  and  ornament.  All  efforts  to  reform  him  had 
proven  futile,  and  those  that  loved  him  best,  even,  had  given  him 
up  as  a  lost  man.  Family  separation  and  estrangement  had  taken 
place,  and  all  that  was  strong  and  noble  in  the  man  seemed 
debased  by  the  fearful  blight  of  alcohol.  This  noble  and 
gifted  man  had  sunk  from  one  depth  to  another  till  there 
seemed  no  hope  of  rising.  Imagine  the  shock  of  joy  and 
amazement  that  thrilled  his  friends,  when  it  was  announced 
that  he  had  yielded  to  the  magnetic  influence  of  Francis  Mur- 
phy, and  planted  his  feet  firmly  on  the  rock  of  total  absti- 
nence. As  a  gentleman  of  prominence  told  the  writer,  the 
Murphy  movement  in  Pittsburgh  would  have  been  a  notable 
success,  if  the  sole  fruit  of  it  had  been  the  permanent  reform- 
ation of  Swartzwalder  alone.  The  Irish  reformer  in  a  speech 
afterwards  made  at  Columbus,  Ohio,  gave  a  graphic  account  of 
his  attack  on  Mr.  Swartzwalder,  and  the  means  he  used  to 
raise  him  from  his  wretchedness.  Let  him  speak  for  himself: 
"  Allow  me  to  use  an  illustration  that  I  may  enforce  this 
truth,  and  may  God  help  me.  I  will  speak  of  a  man  you 
have  had  in  your  midst,  speaking  for  you — Marshal  Swartz- 
walder. He  was  a  victim  of  this  habit  for  a  number  of 
years.  He  was  a  companion  of  my  dear  brother  here  on 
the  platform,  and  who  drank  with  my  Brother  Hall  from 
week  to  week,  and  month  to  month,  and  year  to  year.  He 
was  a  perfect  gentleman  when  he  was  sober  ;  a  kingly  man, 
and  has  justly  been  called  the  patriarch  of  the  Pittsburgh  bar, 
and  the  Demosthenes  of  the  profession.  Perhaps  no  man  who 
has  been  upon  the  platform,  in  the  cause  of  human  reform,  has 
been  equal  to  him.  When  I  first  came  to  the  city  of  Pitts- 


020  THE  LIFE   AND   WOKK   OF 

burgh,  I  was  told  about  Marshal  Swartzwalder,  that  he  'aad 
been. a  drunkard  a  great  many  years — for  thirty  years  at  least 
— and  they  said  there  was  no  hope  for  him.  I  said  I  would 
like  to  see  him.  '  Well,'  said  they,  '  you  can  see  him,'  but 
said  he  had  been  on  a  tremendous  spree.  I  took  particular 
pains  to  find  out  how  I  might  be  received  ;  they  said  I  would 
be  received  kindly.  I  got  the  number  of  his  office — for  at  this 
time  he  stayed  in  his  office,  and  ate  his  meals  there,  and  had  a 
nice  back  room  handsomely  furnished  where  he  slept — I  came 
to  his  office  and  rapped  at  his  door  ;  there  was  a  young  boy,  a 
son  of  his,  a  beardless  boy,  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  I  should 
judge,  that  always  staid  with  his  father,  and  never  left  him  ; 
he  called  him  Dick.  Dick  came  to  the  door — I  wish  you  could 
have  seen  the  poor  boy  ;  he  looked  so  depressed  and  sad.  Said 
I,  '  Is  Mr.  Swartzwalder  in  ?'  He  replied,  '  Yes  ;  do  you  wish 
to  see  him  ?'  I  told  him  '  Yes,  sir,'  and  sent  in  my  card.  He 
had  asked  what  my  name  was,  and  I  told  him,  and  he  stepped 
in  and  told  him  that  Mr.  Murphy  was  in  the  office  and  would 
like  to  see  him.  Said  he,  '  Send  him  in  ;  I  would  like  to  see 
him.'  So  I  went  to  his  room,  and  he  rose  from  his  large  chair 
which  he  had  for  his  own  comfort.  He  was  partially  stripped, 
having  his  pantaloons  tied  around  him  with  his  suspenders. 
Being  a  chunky  and  quite  heavy  man,  as  he  came  towards  me 
I  was  a  little  scared  at  the  man,  to  tell  the  truth,  as  he  walked 
up  to  me,  looking  so  earnest,  with  a  keen  expression  that 
seemed  to  look  me  through  and  through.  As  he  approached 
he  extended  his  hand  and  said,  '  You  are  the  man  that  has 
been  talking  temperance  here  ?'  '  Yes,'  said  I.  '  Well,'  said 
he,  '  we  never  had  much  good  from  you  temperance  peo- 
ple ;  you  come  here  and  sing  your  songs,  and  present  your 
bills  and  go  away.  That  is  the  way  they  do,  and  I  suppose 
you  are  like  all  the  rest  of  them.'  I  said,  '  I  don't  know  how 
that  is.'  He  said,  '  Mr.  Murphy,  I  want  to  talk  to  you.'  '  I 
have  been  u  victim  of  intemperance  for  more  than  thirty 
years,'  said  he.  'I  have  no  power  to  control  myself.'  He 
asked  me  to  be  seated  in  a  chair,  and  I  sat  down  by  his  side. 


FBA.NCIS    MUEPHY.  621 

Said  he,  looking  strangely  in  my  face,  'Is  there  any  hope  for 
me  ?'  Said  I,  '  There  is  hope  for  you.'  '  There  is  ?'  he  ex- 
claimed. '  Yes.'  He  asked,  <  How  so  ?'  Said  I,  «  With  God's 
help  you  can  be  saved.'  With  a  shake  of  his  head  he  said, 
'  Why,  for  more  than  twenty  years  I  have  been  seeking  for  the 
truth,  and  have  read  the  Bible  through  and  through.'  And 
he  told  me  about  the  writings  of  several  men  he  had  read, 
seeking  for  the  truth.  *  And,'  said  he,  '  Mr.  Murphy,  there  is 
no  help  for  me.'  I  commenced  talking  to  him  in  my  hum- 
ble way,  the  best  I  could.  He  turned  around  to  Colonel 
Hetherington,  and  said :  '  Go  and  tell  Dick  to  come  in.' 
The  dear  boy,  when  he  came  in,  stepped  up  to  his  father's  left 
side,  and  the  father  put  his  arms  around  the  boy.  The  poor 
boy  was  so  much  overcome  that  he  sat  down  and  put  his  arms 
around  his  father's  neck.  The  child  could  not  control  his 
feelings,  and  commenced  to  weep.  The  father  said,  '  Dear 
Dick,  you  never  left  me.'  Turning  to  me,  he  said:  'Mr. 
Murphy,  here  is  a  boy  that  stays  with  his  father ;  here  is  a 
boy  that  has  walked  the  streets  night  after  night  for  his 
father,  and  stays  with  him  ;  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  how  good 
he  has  been,  how  much  I  love  him.'  Before  we  got  through 
talking  to  each  other,  and  reasoning  with  each  other,  Mr. 
Swartzwalder  said  :  '  Mr.  Murphy,  I  feel  a  very  strange  im- 
pression on  my  heart ;  I  feel  as  though  God  had  touched  me, 
so  to  speak.'  I  said  to  him,  with  all  the  power  of  encourage- 
ment that  God  had  possessed  me  with,  '  Mr.  Swartzwalder,  by 
the  grace  of  God  you  shall  conquer  this  evil  ;  I  know  it  in  my 
heart.'  I  left  him  ;  I  knew  the  work  was  done  ;  I  knew  it 
was  a  question  of  time  when  that  man  should  come  out  re- 
deemed. Brother  David  Hall,  who  is  on  the  platform,  carried 
him  provision,  and  nursed  him,  and  there  is  not  a  better 
hearted  man  walks  on  this  green  earth  of  God's,  than  this 
same  Brother  Hall.  He  stayed  with  him  and  helped  him  for 
several  days  ;  after  six  days  the  Christian  people  began  to 
pray  for  him  ;  the  people  would  come  to  me  and  ask,  '  Mr. 
Murphy,  do  you  believe  Mr.  Swartzwalder  will  be  saved?' 


622  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 

'  Do  I  believe  it  ?  Why,'  said  I,  'God  saves  to  the  uttermost, 
and  he  knows  no  hard  cases.'  I  gave  them  all  the  encourage- 
ment I  could.  The  Christian  men  and  women  prayed  for  that 
man,  for  the  people  of  Pittsburgh  loved  him  ;  they  are  proud 
of  him  as  a  grand  pleader  at  the  bar  ;  the  grand  counsellor  of 
the  State,  with  whom  the  judges  of  the  supreme  bench  con- 
sult. In  about  six  days — we  had  heard  from  him  from  day  to 
day — and  after  some  six  days  this  man,  majestic  in  his  appear- 
ance, with  his  white  flowing  locks,  well  dressed,  and  with  a 
nice  silk  hat  shining  like  a  piece  of  polished  gold,  and  his  cane 
in  his  hand,  came  to  the  meeting  ;  there  was  a  grandeur  and 
majesty  about  the  man  ;  he  seemed  to  have  come  to  himself 
again,  with  all  the  grandeur  and  kingly  nobility  he  formerly 
possessed.  As  he  came  in,  he  stood  and  looked  over  the  mul- 
titude of  people  in  the  room.  When  the  "man  came  in,  and 
stood  there',  a  whisper  passed  throughout  the  congregation, 
and  I  noticed  that  men  that  hadn't  been  seen  to  drop  tears 
since  the  meeting  commenced  were  now  moved.  I  could  see 
their  lips  begin  to  tremble,  and  after  a  while,  I  could  see  them 
get  out  their  handkerchiefs.  I  wondered  what  was  the  cause 
of  all  this,  but  it  was  the  hold  the  man  had  upon  the  people. 
By-and-by  he  walked  up  the  aisle,  pressing  his  way  among 
the  multitude  of  people,  and  as  they  parted  to  let  him  in,  and 
he  passed  along,  you  could  hear  the  people  say,  '  God  bless 
the  man.'  And  when  he  came  toward  the  table  where  the 
pledges  were,  the  interest  was  intense.  In  the  back  part  of 
the  room  they  commenced  standing  up,  to  see  if  he  would  sign 
the  pledge,  and  in  a  little  while,  as  he  stood  there  silently 
meditating,  he  turned,  and  seizing  a  pen,  wrote  his  name  upon 
the  pledge  of  total  abstinence.  Then,  turning  to  the  congre- 
gation again,  he  said — what  he  had  never  before  said  in  all  his 
life — '  I  want  you  to  pray  for  me.  This  is  for  my  life  ;  this  is 
the  last  effort ;  if  I  fail  now,  I  shall  never  try  it  again,'  That 
man  went  to  his  office,  and  asked  God  to  help  him. 

"  I  met  him  when  I  came  to  Pittsburgh,  and  had  the  pleasure 
of  putting  my  arms  around  him.     Said  I,  '  How  are  you  get- 


FBANCIS    MUEPHY.  623 

ting  along,  Brother  Swartzwalder  ?"  and  he  said,  'Bi  other 
Murphy,  every  morning  I  pray  ;  every  day  at  noon  I  pray  ; 
and  every  night  I  pray  ;  and  every  day  when  I  go  past  a 
saloon  I  begin  to  pray  for  God's  power  to  keep  me  and  sustain 
me.' 

"  This  man  has  been  kept  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  has 
been  the  means  in  the  hands  of  God  of  securing — I  don't  know 
but  twenty  thousand  signers  to  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence, 
and  is  standing  up  to-day  in  all  the  dignity  and  freedom  of 
this  new-born  life,  saved  from  the  power  and  dominion  of  rum. 
It  pays  to  be  kind,  it  pays  to  be  merciful  and  to  work  in  this 
blessed  cause." 

In  the  same  speech,  from  which  we  quote,  Mr.  Murphy  gave  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  conversion  of  the  Hall  brothers,  who  after- 
wards became  such  powerful  co-laborers  in  the  good  work, 
that  is  worthy  of  citation  : 

"  Now,  my  dear  friends,  I  see  that  the  time  is  advancing 
when  I  must  close  my  discourse.  If  I  had  time  I  would  like  to 
bring  before  you  another  illustration  of  this  truth.  Just  a  word 
about  my  brothers  David  Hall  and  George,  and  while  they  are 
on  the  platform  they  will  excuse  me  for  speaking  about  them. 
When  I  first  came  to  Pittsburgh  and  spoke  in  the  Opera 
House,  brother  David  was  there,  George  was  not  present. 
The  next  day,  passing  down  the  street,  I  met  brother  David 
near  the  Seventh  Avenue  Hotel,  on  the  sidewalk.  He  stepped 
up,  and  taking  me  by  the  hand,  said,  '  How  are  you  ?'  And  I 
said,  '  Very  well ;  how  are  you  ?'  and  he  said,  •'  You  don't 
know  me?'  I  said  'No.'  Said  he,  'I  heard  you  talk  last 
night  ;  I  want  you  to  understand  that.'  Said  I,  '  Did  you  ?' 
and  he  replied,  '  I  was  right  there.'  '  Were  you  ?'  '  Yes,'  said 
he  ;  '  and  you  told  my  story  exactly.'  Well,  I  was  wonder- 
fully pleased  with  the  expression  of  his  face.  '  And  now,'  re- 
marked he,  '  there  was  something  left  out  of  the  story  ;  you 
didn't  tell  all.'  Said  I  to  David  :  '  I  want  you  to  tell  me  what 
it  is.'  Said  he,  '  I  want  you  to  tell  me  whether  your  wife  is 
living  ?'  I  told  him  she  was  not  living.  Do  you  know  that 


624  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OP 

this  man  bowed  his  head  on  the  street  there  and  cried.  '  I 
want  to  say  to  you  now,'  said  brother  David,  '  I  will  sign  this 
pledge  with  you,  and  if  you  let  me  go  down  to  the  hotel 
with  you  I  will  sign  it  right  there.'  And  he  took  another 
man  with  him,  John  Irving.  He  said  he  would  go  along  and 
sign  it  too.  We  went  to  my  room  and  he  said :  '  I  have  a 
saloon ;  I  want  you  to  understand  that.'  Said  I,  '  Have  you  ?' 
'  Yes,'  replied  he.  I  inquired,  '  What  are  you  going  to  with 
it  ?'  'I  am  going  to  shut  it  up,'  he  replied.  '  Will  you  ?'  said 
I.  '  If  you  will  shut  it  up,  brother  David,  it  will  be  a  blessed 
thing.'  I  asked  him  where  his  place  was,  and  said  I  would  go 
down  and  see  it.  '  You  have  got  to  come  down  quick  if  you 
get  into  it,'  said  he,  '  for  I  am  going  to  close  it  up,  and  I  will 
never  sell  another  drink  of  liquor.'  When  we  came  in  the 
room  he  asked  for  the  pledge  and  sat  down  and  signed  it — he 
and  his  companion,  John  Irving — as  noble  a  man  as  ever  God 
made,  but  who  had  fallen  through  the  power  of  this  evil. 
When  they  signed  it  they  stepped  up  to  each  other  and  took 
each  other's  hand,  but  didn't  speak  a  word.  They  turned 
their  heads  away  from  each  other  for  a  little  while,  then  let 
go,  and  David  went  to  one  side  of  the  room  and  John  to  the 
other.  I  knew  that  God  had  touched  their  hearts,  and  I  want 
to  say  to  you  that  it  is  these  men  that  have  made  this  move- 
ment and  not  Frank  Murphy.  These  are  the  men  who  have 
done  the  work,  and  called  it  the  Murphy  movement.  It  ought 
to  be  called  the  Hall  movement." 

Nobly  indeed  did  these  men  work,  and  the  appeals  of 
Swartzwalder,  and  the  two  Halls,  night  after  night,  were  fea- 
tures of  hardly  less  importance  in  the  success  of  the  Murphy 
meetings  than  those  of  the  temperance  reformer  himself.  The 
sincerity  and  enthusiasm  which  lay  at  the  bottom  of  it  all  is 
best  indicated  in  the  fact  that  such  men  as  these  we  have  men- 
tioned, and  many  others,  did  not  lose  their  grip  after  the  sub- 
sidence of  the  first  great  excitement.  They  have  been  laboring 
assiduously  ever  since  in  the  good  work,  not  only  in  Pittsburgh, 
but  in  all  the  neighboring  towns  and  counties,  organizing 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  625 

Murphy  associat  ons  and  meetings,  and  bringing  vast  numbers 
into  the  fold  of  temperance  again.  This  peculiar  significance, 
found  in  the  steady  continuance  of  the  Murphy  work,  after  the 
departure  of  the  man  himself,  shows  what  a  vital  tap-root  it 
has,  and  how  false  the  sneering  charges  sometimes  made  that 
these  revivals  are  mere  passionate  spasms  of  popular  feeling, 
without  any  hold  on  the  more  solid  foundations  of  will  and 
belief. 

In  describing  the  growth  of  the  movement  in  Pittsburgh,  we 
can  best  describe  the  work  in  a  graphic  way  by  referring  to 
individual  cases.  So  far  as  the  general  outlines  of  the  reform 
are  concerned,  they  continued  the  same.  Like  an  avalanche  it 
was  a  swift,  steady,  monotonous  movement,  magnificent  in  its 
sweep,  grand  in  results,  but  guided  by  a  few  simple  laws  and , 
conditions.  Once  started,  it  became  cumulative  with  such 
rapidity,  that  in  a  few  weeks  nothing  else  was  talked  of  in  the 
iron  city.  Thoughts  of  business,  of  social  recreation,  of  the 
miscellaneous  themes  that  ordinarily  occupy  the  minds  of  men, 
were  all  swallowed  up  in  the  one  absorbing  topic.  Petroleum 
oil,  iron  and  steel,  manufacturing,  stocks  and  bonds  lost  their 
hold  on  the  minds  of  men.  The  grand  query  was,  "  How  shall 
I  myself  be  saved,"  or  "  how  shall  I  save  my  drunken,  lost 
brother  ?" 

The  church  organizations  threw  their  powerful  might  into  the 
struggle,  without  any  thought  of  denominational  success,  and 
were  very  important  factors  in  solidifying  the  results  of  the 
movement.  The  women  of  Pittsburgh,  from  the  first,  had 
prayed,  and  struggled,  and  labored  with  the  most  fervid  zeal, 
for  they  saw  how  deeply  involved  was  the  salvation  of  num- 
berless family  circles,  the  rehabilitation  of  shattered  household 
gods.  Let  us  now  relate  to  the  reader  several  graphic  exam- 
ples and  incidents,  which  will  illustrate  more  vividly  than  any 
general  description  the  success  and  strength  of  the  wave  of 
temperance  reform,  once  it  commenced  to  roll  its  pure  and 
cleansing  waters  onward  in  a  great  wall. 

The  following  incidents  are  the  recitals  of  prominent  men 
27 


626  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

at   the   Murphy  meetings,  and  will   be  read  \uth  great  in- 
terest : 

David  B.  Hall  was  saved  through  the  prayers  of  his  wife. 
For  years  he  had  been  a  slave  to  intoxicating  drink,  and  was 
known  as  such  in  all  Pittsburgh.  Now  he  had  embraced  relig- 
ion ;  and  he  felt  he  had  escaped  danger  forever.  No  one  has 
been  a  more  earnest,  sincere  co-worker  than  Mr.  Hall  in  the 
Murphy  movement.  He  has  succeeded  in  reclaiming  a  vast 
number  of  drunkards  ;  and  is  still  conducting  the  good  work 
with  zeal. 

Mr.  Best,  of  Pittsburgh,  had  caused  his  family  a  great  deal 
of  sorrow  by  his  intemperate  habits.  He  signed  the  pledge  in 
the  Iron  City,  and  found  it  the  very  hardest  thing  in  his  whole 
life  to  keep  it.  However,  he  conquered  ;  and  he  was  now  a 
happy  man.  He  was  a  devoted  "  Murphy  man." 

Mr.  Charles  Wenzell  used  to  keep  a  drinking  saloon  in  Pitts- 
burgh ;  but  sold  out,  on  account  of  the  business  not  paying 
well.  He  concluded  that  he  would  go  to  South  America  ;  and 
went  to  New  York  to  make  preparations  for  the  journey. 

When  there  he  gave  the  idea  up,  and  spent  all  the  money  he 
had  with  him.  Then  a  great  longing  came  over  him  for  the 
old  Iron  City,  and  he  returned.  Murphy  meetings  were  then 
being  conducted,  and  to  pass  the  time  he  dropped  in  to  hear 
what  these  temperance  people  had  to  say  for  their  cause.  The 
next  day  he  attended  a  church,  the  first  he  had  been  in  for 
twenty  years.  The  service  had  a  wonderful  effect  on  him — he 
desired  to  become  a  Christian.  He  also  desired  to  sign  the 
Murphy  pledge.  He  sought  out  Francis  Murphy,  and  asked 
his  advice.  If  he  gave  up  his  old  ways,  his  sporting  habits, 
how  could  he  make  a  living  ?  "  God  provides  a  way,"  said 
Murphy  ;  "  He  feeds  the  sparrows  and  clothes  the  lilies  of  the 
field."  "  But  I  am  no  sparrow  !"  Wenzell  cried.  "Try  it," 
Murphy  rejoined  ;  "  and  you  will  be  provided  for." 

The  upshot  of  this  interview  was  Mr.  Wenzell's  dedicating 
himself  to  the  cause  of  total  abstinence,  becoming  a  member  of 
the  church,  entirely  leaving  off  his  former  habits.  He  has 


FRANCIS    MUKPHY.  621 

often  remarked  in  his  stirring  addresses  that  he  would  not 
return  to  his  old  business  if  he  knew  it  would  bring  him  in 
hundreds  of  dollars  a  day.  Mr.  Wenzell  has  proved  himself 
to  be  one  of  the  strongest  advocates  of  temperance,  and  a  brave 
worker  in  the  Murphy  movement. 

Mr.  John  M.  Kesbitt  said  at  a  meeting  held  in  Pittsburgh  : 
"  I  have  studied  law,  gone  into  politics,  become  a  candidate 
for  Senatorial  renown,  and  one  glass  of  whiskey  gained  the 
victory  over  me  and  all  my  ambition.  The  morning  of  the 
election  I  was  seen  turning  down  a  glass  of  whiskey  by  a  gen- 
tleman who  afterwards  voted  against  me.  That  one  vote  de- 
feated me.  I  possess  considerable  stock  in  my  native  town.  1 
have  no  money  ;  but  I  have  stock  to  the  value  of  ten  cents  in 
every  brick  of  every  saloon  in  the  place." 

Harry  Rawle  had  formerly  been  a  liquor  dealer  in  Pitts- 
burgh, but  he  signed  the  pledge  and  left  the  trade.  He  gave 
the  following  quaint  testimony  at  one  of  the  largest  meetings 
held  in  the  city  :  "  This  is  the  first  time  I  have  been  before  an 
audience.  I  am  asked  by  Brother  Murphy  to  say  a  few  words. 
I  will  say  them  in  my  own  way.  I  kept  a  saloon  about  four 
years  ;  I  drank  a  great  deal.  I  took  a  quiet  little  drink  every 
morning  till  Murphy  came.  One  day  I  thought  I  would  go  and 
see  who  and  what  this  gentleman  was.  I  dropped  in.  A  man 
who  knew  me  came  up  to  me,  and  said  :  '  You  had  better  sign 
your  name  to  the  pledge.'  I  said  :  '  I  don't  drink  much — I 
don't  think  it  necessary.'  'I  have  seen  you  when  you  had  too 
much,'  he  said.  I  said  :  '  I'm  in  the  business,  and  I  cannot 
sign  it  now,  as  I  have  nothing  else  to  do.'  A  lady  said  :  '  We 
will  pray  for  you.'  I  said  :  '  I  would  be  glad  of  that.'  I  went 
home  and  told  my  friends  I  had  seen  Murphy.  They  asked 
me  what  I  thought  of  him.  I  said  :  '  He  is  nice  enough,  and 
that  is  all  there  is  of  him.'  I  did  not  take  much  stock  in  him 
then.  After  awhile,  however,  I  was  caught  in  the  Murphy 
net.  I  have  signed  the  pledge,  and  I  mean  to  keep  it." 

The  movement  was  not  confined  alone  to  reform,  but  also 
extended  to  charity.  The  afflicted  were  succored,  and  those 


628  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

who  had  signed  the  pledge,  and  had  nothing  to  do,  were  cared 
for  until  they  could  help  themselves.  Dinners  were  given  on 
Christmas  and  New  Year's  day,  in  the  basement  of  the  "  Old 
Home,"  to  all  who  were  homeless  and  hungry.  A  most  inter- 
esting description  of  Christmas  that  memorable  year,  in  Pitts- 
burgh, appeared  in  one  of  the  newspapers,  which  we  take  great 
pleasure  in  presenting  to  the  reader.  It  is  as  follows  : 

"  Pittsburgh's  Christmas  is  probably  unparalleled  in  the 
annals  of  American  history.  It  is  safe  to  make  the  assertion 
that  never  before  of  a  Christmas  day,  in  any  city  of  the  west- 
ern hemisphere,  has  an  edifice  the  size  of  the  Fifth  Avenue 
Methodist  Church  been  so  crammed  with  humanity,  from  early 
dawn  till  dewy  eve,  and  from  dewy  eve  until  late  in  the  night, 
with  a  crowd  of  people  bent  on  temperance  reform.  Of  all 
queer  recreations  for  a  Christmas  day,  temperance  crusading 
appears  to  be  the  queerest.  '  A  Christmas  drunk '  has  hereto- 
fore been  a  licensed  irregularity,  and  people  who  have  kept 
level-headed  the  remaining  three  hundred  and  sixty-four  days 
of  the  year,  have  felt  a  moral  obligation,  arising  out  of  respect 
for  the  hilarity  of  the  season  and  heirloom  festivities  of  the 
1  Merrie  Christmas  tide,'  to  indulge  in  the  wassail  bowl  and 
render  homage  to  Bacchus.  But  Monday  a  multitude  of  people 
gave  Bacchus  the  cold  shoulder,  and  ignored  the  traditions  of 
the  past.  Tom  and  Jerry  sat  lonesomely  blinking  at  one  another 
over  these  degenerate  days,  the  proudest  plume  was  pulled  out 
of  the  chanticleer's  caudal  appendage,  brandy  smashes  thought 
the  times  had  gone  to  smash,  socially-inclined  slings  discovered 
themselves  being  slung  aside  ;  and  even  Holland  Torn  jammed 
his  cork  down  in  his  throat  and  gurgled  forth  his  lamenta- 
tions, while  Colonel  Rye  Tanglefoot  wildly  called  for  his  troop- 
ers, and  wept  rivers  of  bug-juice  when  he  fairly  comprehended 
that  the  troopers,  from  the  lamp-post  picket  to  the  vidette  in 
the  gutter,  had  deserted  their  posts  and  'gone  up  to  Murphy's.' 

"  This  temperance  movement  has  thoroughly  interested  our 
citizens,  and  Christinas  day  they  expressed  it.  The  expression 
was  not  one  of  froth  and  foam  either,  but  had  the  solid  body 


FEANCIS    MUEPHY.  629 

of  a  practi  jal  and  substantial  effort  attending  it,  for  in  the 
church,  while  the  crowd  up  stairs  was  shouting  *  Hallelujah  !' 
the  crowd  down  stairs  was  sending  delegations  of  turkey, 
ham,  cold  beef,  cake,  pies  and  coffee,  into  the  interior  depart- 
ments to  announce  the  glad  tidings  that  the  pledge  had  been 
taken,  and  the  department  should  no  longer  be  outraged  by 
the  presence  of  plenipotentiaries  from  the  court  of  King  Al- 
cohol. One  of  the  earliest  principles  introduced  in  this  move- 
ment was  the  concession  that  it  was  but  little  use  trying  to 
convert  a  man  with  an  empty  stomach.  So  long  as  a  glass  of 
beer  and  a  hearty  lunch  can  be  obtained  for  five  cents,  all  the 
temperance  orations  ever  delivered  cannot  convince  a  hungry 
man  that  the  glass  of  beer  is  not  a  road  to  happiness.  The 
good  people  of  Pittsburgh  recognize  this  fact,  and  knowing 
that  the  dull  times  have  created  a  class  of  very  hungry  people 
in  this  city,  when  it  was  proposed  at  one  of  the  temperance 
meetings  to  give  everybody  who  wanted  it  a  Christmas  din- 
ner, hosts  of  kind-hearted  matrons  resolved  themselves  into 
committees  of  one  and  proceeded  to  furnish  the  material. 

"  The  Sunday-school  room  of  the  Fifth  Avenue  Methodist 
Church  was  converted  into  a  dining-room,  and  the  room  imme- 
diately in  its  rear  transmogrified  into  a  refectory.  Eai'ly 
Monday  morning  the  provisions  commenced  to  arrive.  They 
came  in  boxes  and  baskets  and  bundles  and  barrels ;  the 
widow's  mite  jostled  the  contribution  of  wealth,  the  plebeian 
ham  leaned  familiarly  against  the  patrician  turkey,  and  the 
humble  doughnuts  nestled  under  the  shadow  of  the  majestic 
pound  cake.  Stout  matrons  brought  in  plethoric  baskets,  lit- 
tle girls  tugged  along  with  big  bundles,  and  little  and  big 
boys — after  the  manner  of  their  sex — 'rolled  them  up  and 
tumbled  them  up,  any  way  to  get  them  there,'  while  the  sex- 
ton's wife  and  a  lady  who  deserves  great  praise  for  her  exer- 
tions in  behalf  of  the  hungry  ones,  had  commenced  to  boil  the 
coffee,  of  which  beverage  enough  was  drank  to  nearly  float 
the  Ajax  off  a  sand  bar. 

'•'  During  the  preparations  down  stairs,  the  main  body  of  the 


630  THE  LIFE   AND  WOEK   OF 

church  above  was  crowded  with  all  classes  of  people,  and 
prayer  and  temperance  testimony  were  the  order  of  the  day. 
A  short  time  before  twelve  o'clock  it  was  announced  that 
tickets  would  now  be  distributed  (fifty  at  a  time)  to  the  hun- 
gry ones,  good  for  an  admittance  to  the  dinner  below.  And 
then  the  fun  commenced.  The  hungry  ones  had  long  been  on 
hand  chanting — 

"  '  We  come  !     We  come  ! 
The  voracious  bum  ! 
Fee  !    Fie  !   Foe  !    Fum  ! 
Give  us  grub  and  we'll  give  up  rum  !' 

"  The  tramp  brigade  had  heard  of  the  *  blow-out,'  and  were 
on  hand  in  force.  There  were  full  delegations  from .  all  the 
different  lodges  of  the  fraternity  ;  the  '  Texas  Rangers  of  '76,' 
'  Centennial  Cadgers,'  '  Hand-out  Repudiators  '  and  '  Free  and 
Independent  Order  of  United  Sit-down  Solicitors,'  and  others 
too  numerous  to  mention.  All  were  anxious  to  secure  a  ticket, 
and  it  was  comical,  yet  a  trifle  pathetic,  to  witness  the  fears 
that  some  seemed  to  entertain  lest  they  and  the  dinner  might 
fail  to  connect.  Many  of  them  had  an  idea  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  sign  the  pledge  before  they  could  get  their  dinner 
(which  was  not  the  case,  as  no  distinctions  were  made),  but 
under  the  impression  that  dinner  depended  upon  it,  there  took 
place  a  very  sudden  and  laudable  inclination  to  renounce  the 
world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  as  typified  by  whisky,  and  em- 
bark on  the  high-road  to  sobriety  and  something  to  eat, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  one  of  '  Murphy's  life-boats.' 
Many  fell  into  this  mistake,  and  were  highly  indignant 
when  the  door-keeper  below  rejected  their  '  life-boats,'  and 
told  them  to  get  one  of  the  other  kind.  For  over  three  hours 
there  was  a  majesty  of  jaw-bone  at  work  in  the  Sunday-school 
room.  Tatterdemalion  attire  covering  the  gaunt  and  wasted 
forms,  the  pinched  cheeks  of  hunger  and  want,  the  shabby  and 
thread-bare  attempt  at  respectability,  the  '  out-of-luck '  air  of 
hard  times,  the  anxious,  restless,  trouble-haunted  eye,  and  the 
patient,  sad  look  of  hearts  bowed  down  by  long  suffering,  and 


FRANCIS    MUKPHY.  631 

lives  ground  out  of  shape  beneath  the  heel  of  poverty,  were 
all  there,  and  all  earnestly  at  work  upon  the  viands.  In  a  short 
time  the  dinnsr  tickets  became  much  soiled  and  torn,  through 
constant  and  rough  handling,  so  that  a  fragment  of  one  was 
accepted  as  a  passport.  The  great  unwashed  did  not  fail  to 
avail  themselves  of  this  advantage.  Some,  for  reasons  of  their 
own,  were  disinclined  to  either  sign  the  pledge  or  go  into  the 
church  after  a  ticket.  These  would  await  on  the  outside  for 
some  braver  comrade  to  sally  forth  with  his  piece  of  paste- 
board, and  having  equitably  divided  it  up  before  them,  three 
and  sometimes  four  would  go  on  the  same  ticket.  But  no 
objections  were  made  and  no  refusals — all  was  good  nature, 
affability,  good  will  and  fraternity. 

"  Many  ladies  were  in  attendance  and  assisted  in  serving  out 
the  good  things.  Prominent  among  these  was  Mrs.  Lincoln, 
wife  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  organist.  This  lady's  efforts  in  behalf 
of  the  temperance  revival  have  been  earnest  and  never  flag- 
ging. Her  fascinating  vocalism  has  been  given  freely  and 
without  affectation  or  reserve  at  nearly  all  of  the  meetings, 
and  yesterday  the  little  lady  was  busy  as  a  bee  the  whole  day 
attending  to  the  wants  of  the  hungry  multitude. 

"  Mrs.  Collins  and  Mrs.  Long,  of  the  Young  Men's  Home, 
were  prominent  in  originating  and  carrying  out  the  benevolent 
enterprise  ;  together  with  the  noble  assistance  of  Mrs. 
Morris,  Miss  Hubley,  Mrs.  Childs,  Mrs.  Fulton,  Miss  Annie 
Baldwin,  Mrs.  Frew,  Mrs.  Nelson,  Mrs.  Duncan,  Miss  Scott, 
Mrs.  Davenport,  Mrs.  and  Miss  Moore,  and  others — ladies  who 
literally  obeyed  the  injunction  "  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe 
the  naked,"  and  who  have  the  blessings  of  many  a  heart  made 
happy  on  Christmas  day  through  their  instrumentality. 

"  During  the  day  Mr.  Murphy  received  as  a  Christmas  gift 
a  loaf  of  bread  ten  feet  long  from  Mr.  J.  B.  Youngson,  the 
confectioner.  This  Staff  of  Life  was  on  exhibition  in  the  ex- 
temporized refectory,  and  many  leaned  upon  it.  About  half- 
past  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  last  hungry  man  ap- 
peared U  be  satisfied,  though  the  dining-room  was  kept  open 


632  THE   LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

until  after  six  for  all  who  wished  to  eat,  the  crowd  died  away, 
and  only  solitary  and  isolated  empty  stomachs  dropped  in  to 
adipose  their  ribs.  The  number  of  those  who  had  partaken  of 
the  good  cheer  was  by  actual  count  1,205. 

"During  the  gastronomic  services  below,  spiritual  services 
were  in  progress  in  the  church  above.  As  before  mentioned, 
a  crowd  filled  the  edifice  all  day  long,  among  which  were  many 
ladies.  The  singing  was  conducted  by  a  volunteer  choir,  led 
by  either  Mr.  or  Mrs.  Lincoln  or  Miss  Smythe,  and  an  organ 
accompaniment  by  either  Mr.  Lincoln  or  Mr.  Dunbar.  Messrs. 
Paisley,  Jacobs,  Woodson,  Barbour,  Burns,  and  a  host  of 
others,  are  in  frequent  attendance,  while  the  audience  and  a 
crowd  of  silvery -voiced  ladies  scattered  through  the  house  are 
at  all  times  ready  to  join  in,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
better  congregational  singing  than  that  which  takes  place. 
The  songs  are  the  old  familiar  battle  hymns  of  the  revivalists, 
'  Hold  the  Fort,'  '  What  Shall  the  Harvest  Be  ?'  and  others  of 
that  kind.  Nothing  of  the  '  Cold  "Water  Regimental  Chorus  ' 
sort  has  yet  been  attempted,  and  it  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  it 
never  will. 

"  Another  peculiar  feature  of  this  revival  is  the  amount  of 
'  sticking '  that  is  being  done.  Heretofore  it  has  been  too 
often  the  practice  to  reform  one  day  and  go  around  as  an 
awful  example  the  next.  But  in  the  present  instance  it  is 
different.  The  pledge  has  now  been  opened  for  signatures 
over  nine  weeks,  and  out  of  the  forty  thousand  who  have 
signed  it  the  '  back-sliders '  would  not  make  a  corporal's  guard. 
The  men  who  sign  seem  to  identify  themselves  with  the  move- 
ment, and  are  constantly  on  hand  at  all  the  meetings.  They 
encourage  one  another,  and  it  is  a  very  rare  thing  to  hear  the 
revival  spoken  of  disrespectfully  by  anyone.  Another  feature 
consists  of  the  generosity  of  sentiment  that  has  sprung  up 
among  the  young  men  of  Pittsburgh.  Not  that  they  did  not 
possess  these  good  qualities  before,  but  they  are  now  more 
pronounced  and  have  taken  a  more  active  and  practical  shape. 
Let  who  will  put  in  an  appearance,  if  he  is  in  trouble  or  desti- 


FKANCIS    MUEPHY.  633 

tute  he  will  find  somebody  to  help  him.  In  fact,  Pittsburgh 
is  experiencing  an  enlargement  of  the  heart,  as  well  as  a  tem- 
perance revival.  Each  young  fellow  constitutes  himself  a 
committee,  and  if  he  is  applied  to  and  has  his  hands  full,  he 
passes  the  applicant  around  among  '  the  gang '  until  some  one 
is  found  who  can  carry  a  little  more  weight." 

There  had  been  established  a  sewing  society,  and  extensive 
donations  were  received,  and  distributions  of  clothing  made, 
under  the  charge  of  Captain  Shannon,  each  day  at  the  church. 
The  dull  times  rendered  it  impossible  to  secure  employment 
for  all,  but  the  worthy  citizens  of  Pittsburgh  had  strenuously 
exerted  themselves  in  the  matter,  and  many  idle  men  were 
provided  for.  The  meetings,  originally  confined  to  the  "  Old 
Home,"  were  widely  extended,  and  now  held  each  evening  in 
fully  thirty  churches  in  the  city  and  vicinity.  Temperance 
clubs  were  organized  on  all  sides,  and,  in  the  vernacular  of  the 
river  men,  the  cause  was  booming. 

The  laity  had  been  most  active  in  the  cause.  Among  those 
churches  that  threw  their  doors  wide  open  to  temperance  re- 
form, and  gave  it  so  cheering  a  welcome,  were  the  Wesley  M. 
E.  Chapel,  Smithfield  Street  M.  E.,  Emery  M.  E.,  Arch  Street 
M.  E.,  Alleghany,  North  Avenue  M.  E.,  Alleghany,  South 
Common  M.  E.,  Alleghany,  Centennary  M.  E.,  Walton  M.  E., 
South  Side  Union  M.  E.,  First  Methodist,  Fifth  Methodist, 
Soho,  Second  Methodist,  South  Side,  Sharpsburg  Methodist, 
Birmingham  Methodist,  Second  Presbyterian,  Temperanceville 
Presbyterian,  Central  Presbyterian,  Cumberland  Presbyterian, 
and  a  host  of  others.  The  pastors  who  were  active  in  the 
movement  are :  Rev.  Messrs.  Clark,  Templeton,  Thomas, 
Frazier,  Gill,  Donohoo,  Senons,  Shields,  Scovel,  Murray,  Cowl, 
Wallace,  Sirites,  Hamilton,  Smith,  Vernon,  McGuire,  Snyder, 
Cox,  Baker,  Ferguson,  and  a  great  many  others. 

One  of  Mr.  Murphy's  hopes  is  that  some  day  there  will  be  a 

home  in  Pittsburgh  for  reformed  men — "  a  monument,"  as 

some  one  has  aptly  said,  "to  sobriety,  and  a  light-house  for 

those  who  had  been  shipwrecked  on  the  reefs  of  intemperance." 

27* 


634  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

This  desire  on  the  part  of  the  hero  of  the  cause  has,  as  yet, 
not  reached  consummation ;  but  there  is  a  place  in  the 
"  Smoky  City  "  for  the  reclaimed.  It  consists  of  a  pleasant 
reading-room,  cheap  eating-house,  and  a  fine  sanitarium.  A 
meeting  was  held  by  those  anxious  for  the  erection  of  a  build- 
ing, or  the  renting  of  one  for  the  aforesaid  purpose.  There 
were  nearly  all  the  prominent  men  of  the  city  present. 

Mr.  Murphy  made  one  of  his  effective  speeches,  in  which  he 
said  :  "  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  citizens  of  Pittsburgh  to 
establish  a  temperance  light-house,  a  beacon  for  the  mariner  on 
life's  stormy  sea,  and  a  harbor  of  refuge  for  those  who  sought 
to  escape  the  dread  maelstrom  of  drunkenness."  He  spoke  at 
some  length  on  the  personal  efficacy  of  reform,  and  argued 
that  individual  effort  alone  could  accomplish  what  legislative 
and  municipal  authorities  had  failed  to  do.  Before  the  meet- 
ing adjourned  many  came  forward  and  subscribed  liberally  in 
aid  of  the  worthy  project. 

Francis  Murphy  received  a  weekly  salary  of  $125,  for  his 
labor  in  Pittsburgh,  from  the  Young  Men's  Temperance  Union. 
He  deserved  this  ;  and  it  was  only  right  that  he  was  paid  it. 
Some  officious  parties,  however,  took  it  up,  and  rang  such  dis- 
cordant chimes,  making  unkind  and  uncalled  for  remarks, 
both  on  the  lecturer  and  the  cause,  that  he  was  forced  to 
notice  it.  If  any  man  earned  his  pay,  it  was  he  ;  and  if  other 
temperance  lecturers  are  paid  for  their  services  in  sums  of 
$100  or  $200  a  night,  surely  he  ought  to  receive  as  much,  and 
even  more  ;  for,  looking  at  the  subject  in  that  light,  no  one 
has  ever  been  as  successful  as  he  on  the  temperance  platform. 

At  one  of  the  noonday  meetings,  in  the  midst  of  this  dis- 
cussion, Mr.  Murphy  alluded  to  it,  and  said  that  he  did  not 
approve  of  a  salary,  and  that  hereafter  his  services  would  be 
gratuitously  given.  The  vast  concourse  present  was  brought 
to  tears,  and  many  denounced,  in  bitter  terms,  the  parties  that 
interfered  in  the  matter,  and  expressed  great  sympathy  and 
love  for  their  noble  leader.  Many  came  forward,  and  pledged 
themselves  to  defray  all  his  expenses  as  long  as  Pittsburgh 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  635 

had  the  honor  of  his  presence.     This  turn  of  affairs  was  the 
comment  of  the  whole  town,  during  the  day,  and  one  could 
see,  and  judge  by  the  remarks  flying  about,  that  Pittsburgh 
loved  and  revered  Francis  Murphy  in  no  slight  degree.      No 
one  could  charge  him  with  being  grasping  and  mercenary. 
His  large  heart  is  in  his  work  ;  his  purse  is  open  to  the  appeals 
of  the  unfortunate,  and  he  works  to  save  the  fallen,  and  to 
gain  the  glorious  reward  of  a  conscience  that  acquitted  him 
of  any  selfish  or  interested  motive.      Mr.  Murphy  was  vehem- 
ently assailed  by  certain  newspapers  with  mere  reform  dema- 
goguism,  to  use  a  phrase  drawn  from  another  field  of  effort. 
The  mere  fact  that  he  received  a  salary  seems  to  have  been 
the  sole  foundation  undei'lying  the  accusation.     The  combined 
malignity  and  childishness  of  such  a  charge  make  themselves 
patent  to  everyone  who  studies  the  conditions  of  the  case. 
Mr.   Murphy's  celebrity  had  already  made  him  an  object  of 
national  curiosity.      No  other  man  had  ever  achieved   such 
results  in  the  history  of  temperance  reform.      For  his  success 
was  not  merely  a  personal  one,  i.  e.,  the  ability  to  draw  large 
and  enthusiastic  audiences,  but  extended  beyond  surface  agi- 
tation, and  struck  deep  and  permanent  roots  in  the  hearts  of 
men.     It  has  never  failed  to  be  the  case,  that  after  the  de- 
parture of  Murphy  from  any  place,  meetings  were  continued 
under  his  name  by  able  followers  in  the  path  he  marked  out, 
the  fruits  of  which  were  as  important  almost  as  those  wrought 
by  the  man's  personal  presence  and  effort.     What  better  test 
than  this  of  the  profound  significance  of  this  reform  movement! 
It  could  not  be  expected  that  Francis  Murphy,  the  possessor 
of  an   extraordinary,  nay  almost   unexampled   power,  and   a 
poor  man  at  that,  with  a  large  family  to  support  and  educate, 
should  live  purely  on   voluntary  contributions.     The  conse- 
crated ministers  of  the  gospel  do  not  carry  the  habit  of  the 
primitive    apostolic   times    into    practical   usage   now-a-days. 
The  social  and  religious  economy  of  the  nineteenth  century  do 
not  permit  the  preacher  and  reformer  to  travel  about  with  a  staff, 
and  sandal-shorn,  proclaiming  the  word  of  truth  as  an  itinerant 


636 

pilgrim.  Mr.  Murphy  has  shown  a  very  moderate  and  modest 
estimate  of  his  own  pecuniary  worth,  specially  as  the  lecture 
bureaus  have  offered  him  extraordinary  terms  for  his  regular 
services  on  the  platform,  in  the  same  way  as  Gough,  Beecher, 
and  other  celebrities  sell  their  services. 

A  candid  judgment,  then,  compels  the  conviction  that  Fran- 
cis Murphy,  whatever  else  may  be  his  faults,  can  hardly  be 
convicted  of  self-seeking  and  disinterested  motives,  so  far  as 
his  career  up  to  the  present  time  would  indicate. 


FKANCIS    MURPHY.  637 


CHAPTER   IV. 

CONTINUATION  OF  THE    PITTSBURGH    WORK. — MURPHY'S   DEPART- 
URE   FOLLOWED    BY     CONTINUED     ACTIVITY. — FEATURES    OF 

THE     REFORM     MOVEMENT. A    HOST    OF    FOLLOWERS     AND 

CO-LABORERS. — THE    INAUGURATION    OF   THE    MOVEMENT   AT 
PHILADELPHIA. 

THE  Murphy  movement  was  steadily  conducted,  and  grew 
in  favor  more  and  more  each  day.  The  noon-tide  meetings 
were  quite  popular,  being  very  earnest  and  full  of  religion. 
The  night  meetings,  however,  were  more  largely  attended. 
Here  were  found  evidences  of  interest,  enthusiasm,  and  good 
little  short  of  marvellous.  Daily  scores  of  men,  known 
throughout  the  entire  community  as  hard  drinkers,  stepped  up 
to  the  tables,  and  took  the  pledge.  The  "  boys "  used  the 
room  during  the  day  as  a  reading,  conversation  and  smoking 
room.  It  was  a  genuine  treat  to  get  with  them,  and  hear  them 
speak  of  Francis  Murphy.  How  they  loved  and  revered  him  ! 
Verily  he  is  a  man  among  men  ! 

Every  one  had  come  generously  and  heartily  to  the  front  to 
help  on  this  great  work.  Ministers,  journalists,  men  of  wealth, 
and  others,  had  nobly  aided  the  movement,  giving  liberally  of 
both  their  time  and  money  to  that  purpose.  The  railroad 
companies  had  passed  the  Murphy  speakers  from  point  to 
point,  sending  also  destitute  pledge  signei's  to  their  friends, 
all  because  they  were  a  part,  so  to  speak,  of  Murphy.  And 
men  and  women  had  gone  to  the  headquarters  every  day  and 
night  to  keep  up  the  spirit  of  good,  and  to  push  the  cause  on- 
ward as  regularly  as  clock-work,  not  asking  any  remuneration 


638  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

save  that  of  cheering  words  and  signs  of  encouragement  and 
success. 

To  outsiders  the  enthusiasm  and  devotion  exhibited  by  the 
Murphyites  in  their  cause  was  a  source  of  much  surprise.  That 
their  love  and  earnestness  should  last  caused  people  to  think 
seriously  ;  and  this  serious  thinking  generally  resulted  in  their 
conversion,  asd  enlisting  them  in  the  already  mighty  army. 

The  tiny  spark  lighted  in  their  hearts  by  their  noble  leader 
burned  and  would  continue  to  burn — was  now  a  flaming  light 
that  shone  out  in  full  glory  upon  the  whole  civilized  world. 

The  Murphyites  loved  their  work.  They  attended  their 
meetings  regularly,  and  prayed,  and  sung  the  dear  old  Gospel 
songs  with  the  same  power  as  when  Francis  Murphy  himself 
stood  in  the  Smoky  City  among  them  like  a  king.  They  lived 
for  their  cause  ;  they  lived  to  save  the  lost  and  dying.  Stir- 
ring speeches  were  delivered  at  the  meetings  by  the  brave 
"  boys  ;"  and  now  and  then  he  whom  they  devoutly  followed 
paid  them  a  flying  visit,  and  roused  them  to  greater  work. 
Every  time  he  came  there,  there  was  a  mighty  crowd  to  hear 
his  graphic  and  pleasing  talk.  One  night  he  was  announced 
to  appear  in  the  Central  Presbyterian  church,  and  long  before 
the  appointed  time  the  building  was  packed. 

On  his  appearance  the  dear  "  Old  Home"  choir  burst  out  in 
that  sweet,  and  to  him,  the  finest  of  songs,  "  I  Hear  Thy  Wel- 
come Voice."  He  shook  hands  with  every  one  he  passed  ;  his 
face  beamed  with  his  delight  at  being  again  with  the  "  boys." 
He  addressed  them  in  the  following  earnest  words  : 
Mr.  President  and  Dear  Friends : — 

I  am  glad  to  come  to  you  again.  I  am  glad  to  see  you 
again  and  hear  your  welcome  voices.  It  is  a  great  pleasure  to 
know  that  we  are  welcome  when  returning  home,  and  there 
is  something  pleasant  about  a  hearty  greeting.  We  all 
feel  it,  and  it  does  me  good  to  know  that  I  have  your  esteem 
and  confidence.  I  am  glad  to  be  with  the  "  boys  "  again,  who 
have  stood  nobly  by  this  movement  ever  since  its  commence- 
ment. There  are  some  who  say  we  will  not  keep  the  pledge, 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  639 

but  time  will  tell.  I  had  a  most  delightful  trip.  Have  been 
talking  and  traveling  over  some  of  the  ground  which  the  boyy 
from  Pittsburgh  have  worked,  and  have  found  the  people 
holding  them  in  grateful  remembrance  for  the  good  they  ac- 
complished. No  matter  what  people  say  about  us,  we  will  say 
no  unkin'd  words  against  them.  I  am  a  lover  of  peace,  and 
believe  in  the  reclaiming  power  of  the  gospel  of  love  and  kind- 
ness. If  we  do  good  we  must  be  merciful  and  kind.  When 
we  come  to  die  it  will  be  sweet  to  know  that  we  have  been 
unkind  to  no  one.  Let  us  keep  on  in  this  great  reform,  and 
with  clean  hands  and  pure  hearts  we  will  gain  the  victory,  no 
matter  who  may  oppose.  I  have  just  come  from  Lexington, 
Ky.,  where  Charles  Wenzel  is  doing  a  grand  work.  He  has 
secured  about  three  thousand  signers,  and  Mr.  Nesbitt  has  ob- 
tained about  two  thousand  among  the  colored  people.  I  once 
asked  the  merchants  of  Pittsburgh  to  put  up  a  building,  and  I 
believe  they  will  do  so  yet.  Other  cities  have  their  own  read- 
ing-rooms and  tabernacles,  and  we  must  have  them  in  this  city. 
Pittsburgh  has  done  a  noble  work,  and  the  good  cause 
will  spread  wider  and  deeper ;  not  because  I  am  in  it, 
but  because  it  is  of  God.  In  God  is  our  trust,  and  with 
our  motto  we  will  go  on  saving  men  and  making  homes 
happy.  I  am  glad  you  are  in  this  church.  Its  pastor,  Rev. 
Senour,  is  a  noble  man  ;  God  bless  him  !  I  expect  to  com- 
mence the  work  in  Troy,  New  York,  some  time  in  November. 
We  should  have  an  anniversary  in  this  city  on  the  26th  of 
November.  Now  is  the  time  to  get  ready  for  it,  so  that  we 
may  have  a  grand  time.  Do .  not  be  discouraged,  boys,  The 
country  is  waiting  for  the  movement,  and  why  should  not 
Pittsburgh  still  be  in  the  front  ?  What  a  good  thing  it  is  to 
see  and  know  of  the  happy  wives  and  children  and  homes  that 
this  movement  has  brought  to  our  land.  Then  why  should  wo 
be  discouraged  because  some  oppose  and  throw  obstacles  in 
our  way  ?  Let  us  go  on  in  the  right,  "  With  Malice  to  none 
and  Charity  for  all,"  and  God  will  give  us  the  nation. 

One  of  the  notable  events  of  the  meetings  held  a.t  the  head- 


640  THE    LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

quarters  was  the  reformation  of  James  Onslow,  a  politician 
and  writer  of  some  repute.  He  had  been  a  hard  drinker  for  a 
long  time,  and  had  been  given  up  long  since  by  his  friends. 
The  Murphyites,  however,  despaired  not ;  and  finally  suc- 
ceeded in  converting  him.  Mr.  Onslow  delivered  the  follow- 
ing speech,  after  his  reformation  : 
"Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : — 

"  Those  of  you  who  have  known  me  for  the  last  ten,  fifteen 
or  twenty  yeai-s  (and  that  number  is  by  no  means  small),  will 
doubtless  be  surprised  to  see  me  here  to-night,  and  many  of 
you  will  say,  *  Jim  Onslow  has  drank  whisky  too  long,  and 
loves  it  too  well,  to  ever  be  able  to  keep  his  pledge,  or  become 
a  sober  man.'  For  entertaining  this  opinion,  my  friends,  you 
are  not  to  blame.  My  past  life  justifies  you,  perhaps,  in  think- 
ing and  saying  just  what  I  have  indicated  (although  I  never 
signed  the  pledge  and  broke  it),  but  believing  in  the  idea 
'that  while  the  lamp  of  life  holds  out  to  burn,  the  vilest  sin- 
ner (or  drunkard)  may  return,'  I  resolved  last  night,  in  bed, 
all  alone,  with  God's  help,  aided  by  your  prayers,  and  sus- 
tained and  encouraged  by  your  friendship,  to  make  a  strong 
effort  in  that  direction.  Last  night,  about  twelve  o'clock, 
awakening  from  an  uneasy  slumber,  a  voice  seemed  to  say, 
*  Oh,  my  son,  remember  no  drunkai'd  can  enter  the  Kingdom 
of  Heaven  ;  if  you  persist  in  living  as  you  have  been  doing, 
you  can  never  see  those  who  loved  you  well,  and  whom  you 
loved  so  dearly,  while  we  were  all  together  on  the  earth 
below.'  Without  believing  in  dreams,  ghosts  or  hobgoblins, 
I  must  admit  that  this  semi-vision  appeared  like  a  call  or 
warning  from  above,  to  halt  in  my  career  of  dissipation,  if  I 
would  avert  the  wrath  to  come.  I  have  slept  none  since,  and 
this  morning  my  mind  was  fully  made  up  that  whisky  and  old 
'  Cussewago  '  would  part  company  forever. 

"And  just  here  let  me  say,  by  way  of  parenthesis,  that  those 
who  expect  me  to  abuse  and  rail  out  against  my  old  friends, 
the  saloon  keepers,  will  be  mistaken  ;  also  to  remark,  for  the 
benefit  of  several  of  those  old  friends,  that  while  they  will  not 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  641 

be  called  upon  to  score  up  any  more  drinks  against  a  former 
good  customer,  they  shall  all  of  them  be  paid  every  cent  now 
chalked  down  against  him  ;  but  here,  with  the  help  of  Him 
who  rules  and  reigns  above,  whose  attributes  are  mercy,  peace 
and  love,  the  accounts  will  close.  Fully  indorsing  the  idea  of 
that  great  apostle  of  temperance,  my  eloquent  and  enthusiastic 
countryman,  Francis  Murphy,  that  abusing  people  is  not  the 
way  to  reform  them,  no  harsh  or  unkind  word  shall  ever 
escape  my  lips,  either  about  he  who  sells,  or  he  who  drinks, 
the  life-destroying  liquid.  If  I  can  save  myself  from  filling  a 
drunkard's  grave,  as  many  of  my  former  associates  are  now 
doing,  and  keep  some  other  poor  devil  like  myself  from  doing 
the  same  thing,  it.  will,  in  my  humble  judgment,  be  far  better 
than  abusing  anyone.  And  now,  in  conclusion,  let  me  say  a 
word  to  the  ladies  here  present,  noble  representatives  of  those 
who  are  going  about  like  angels  of  mercy,  continually  doing 
good  ;  representatives  of  her  who  was  last  at  the  cross  and 
first  at  the  sepulchre.  May  God,  in  his  infinite  goodness  and 
mercy,  watch  over,  bless  and  protect  you,  now  and  forever. 
May  your  pathway  through  this  life  be  strewn  with  flowers  of 
the  brightest  hue,  and  finally  when  you  have  passed  the  dark 
valley  and  shadow  of  death,  may  He  take  you  to  Himself? 
where  you  will  enjoy  the  society  of  those  whom  you  most  re- 
semble, is  the  earnest  prayer  of  your  humble  servant." 

The  good  done  by  the  "  Union  "  cannot  be  estimated  ;  it  is 
impossible  to  do  so.  Hundreds  upon  hundreds  were  reclaimed 
by  the  brave  "  boys  ;"  and  now  are  leading  prosperous,  happy 
lives  in  all  parts  of  the  State.  James  Onslow,  of  whose  re- 
formation we  have  already  spoken,  has  entered  the  lists,  and 
works  well  and  successfully.  Dave  Hall's  work  is  too  well 
known  to  be  minutely  described  here  ;  it  is  sufficient  to  say  of 
him  that  he  has  done  nobly  for  the  good  cause.  Wm.  Hill, 
Bob  Love,  T  houaas  Jones,  and  the  other  boys  of  the  "  Old 
Home  "  are  actively  engaged  in  the  Murphy  movement  ;  and 
have  lone  untold  good.  These  "  boys  "  have  been  called  to 
all  parts  of  the  country  to  speak  to  eager,  curious  crowds  of 


64-2  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

their  reformation,  work  and  their  leader.  Their  speeches  have 
been  earnest  and  convincing  ;  and  their  success  has  been  great 
wherever  they  have  spoken.  They  carry  conviction  with  them 
because  they  are  earnest  in  the  extreme  ;  and  because  they 
have  been  all  drinkers,  and  were  saved.  Noble  "  boys  !" 
*Your  reward  will  surely  be  great  in  the  glorious  by-and-by  ; 
and  you  will  be  crowned  with  the  universal  love  of  man.  and 
the  blessing  of  God.  Your  names  will  live  ;  hundreds  will 
bless  you,  and  murmur  your  names  in  their  supplications  at 
the  seat  of  mercy.  Verily  those  that  live  for  the  mere  sake  of 
doing  good  to  man  shall  live,  not  for  a  little  while,  but  forever  ! 

A  noble  feature  of  the  Murphy  wave  in  Pittsburgh  is  the 
work  done  by  those  earnest,  zealous  ladies  that  have  come  for- 
ward so  readily. 

Several  unions  have  sprung  up  ;  and  are  now  in  a  flourish- 
ing condition.  The  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union  is 
known  throughout  this  country  for  its  success  in  the  cause. 
The  faithful  women  that  compose  this  society  have  been 
fighting  against  intemperance  for  years.  "  At  times,"  says  a 
well-known  authority,  "the  meetings  were  small,  and  things 
looked  dark  ;  but  still  they  held  out,  praying  that  God  would 
give  them  success.  When  the  Murphy  movement  was  inau- 
gurated in  this  city,  many  of  these  women  assisted  nobly,  and 
have  continued  to  aid  the  '  boys '  in  every  way  possible. 
This  has  greatly  added  to  the  numbers  and  interest  of  their 
Sunday  meetings,  until  at  the  present  time  the  room  is  crowded 
every  Sunday  afternoon.  For  a  while  the  Woman's  Christian 
Temperance  Alliance  met  in  the  same  room,  but  the  two 
organizations  were  consolidated  by  the  Alliance  uniting  with 
the  Union,  and  the  two  were  afterwards  known  as  the  Woman's 
Christian  Temperance  Union."  On  one  occasion  a  very  inter- 
esting address  was  delivered  by  Mrs.  M.  Cora  Bland,  of  New 
York,  and  formerly  editress  of  the  Ladies^  Own  Magazine. 
We  give  it  in  this  instance  as  it  clearly  defines  woman's  posi- 
tion in  the  world,  and  what  great  good  she  can  do  in  the 
blessed  cause  of  temperance. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  643 

Mrs.  Bland  said  : 

" '  Woman  is  the  power  behind  the  throne,'  '  She  moulds 
men  to  do  her  will,'  '  The  hand  that  rocks  the  cradle  is  the 
hand  that  rocks  the  world,'  are  stereotyped  compliments  that 
have  been  given  from  almost  every  pulpit  and  rostrum  in  the 
land.  To  say  that  she  possesses  a  tithe  of  the  influence  attrib- 
uted to  her,  is  to  accuse  her  of  holding  a  power  for  good  which 
she  criminally  refuses  to  exercise,  for  it  is  patent  to  all  that 
hitherto  she  has  done  very  little  toward  staying  this  great  evil 
of  intemperance.  Still  she  loves  virtue  and  abhors  vice.  She 
would  that  all  men  were  good  and  pure,  that  they  were  noble 
and  true  and  God-like  ;  and  think  you  she  possesses  the  power 
to  make  them  so  and  refuses  to  exercise  it  ?  Ah  !  no.  She 
righteously  covets  the  power  to  say  to  this  flood-tide  of  intem- 
perance, with  its  attendant  evils,  'thus  far  shalt  thougo  and  no 
farther.'  Had  the  power  been  hers  she  would  have  banished 
the  liquor  traffic  from  the  land.  Instead,"  said  the  speaker, 
"  the  most  pious  and  respectable  mothers  are  compelled  to  wit- 
ness the  descent  of  their  loved  ones,  for  whom  they  have 
hoped  and  prayed  so  much,  go  down,  down  to  ruin,  while  they, 
with  bleeding  hearts,  stood  powerless  to  avert  their  doom. 
Tell  me  not  that  men  do  women's  bidding  when  they  license 
liquor  saloons  and  other  haunts  of  immorality.  In  view  of 
the  crime,  the  injustice,  the  drunkenness  and  debauchery  of 
men,  it  is  no  compliment  to  women  to  say  '  they  rule  the 
world.'  It  is  time  we  were  done  with  polished  shams  and 
glittering  falsehoods,  and  as  earnest  men  and  women  look  at 
facts  as  they  exist  and  take  hold  of  the  work  understandingly. 
My  religion  teaches  me  that  if  the  world  is  to  be  redeemed 
from  the  dominion  of  appetite  and  sensualism,  it  must  be  done 
by  human  endeavor,  addressed  to  the  work  in  accordance  with 
God's  method  of  regenerating  mankind.  Intemperance  is  a 
physical,  social,  mental,  and  moral  evil,  resulting  from  viola- 
tions of  the  physical,  social,  mental,  and  moral  laws." 

She  here  dilated  upon  the  effects  of  alcohol  in  past  and  pres- 
ent times  ;  and  closed  with  this  touching  appeal  : 


614  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

"  O,  women  of  America,  responsibilities  rest  upon  you 
greater  than  any  that  ever  burdened  the  women  of  any  clime 
or  country,  and  this  because  your  privileges  are  greater, 
higher,  grander  than  ever  crowned  women  before.  To  you  as 
to  none  others  is  the  sunlit  summit  of  the  mount  of  wisdom 
accessible.  'Tis  your  privilege  to  add  to  the  potent  yet  fleeting 
charm  of  beauty  those  enduring  and  more  potent  graces  of  the 
heart  and  brain,  that  comes  with  the  broader  and  higher  cul- 
ture so  freely  offered  you.  'Tis  yours  to  preside  over  homes 
made  delightful  by  your  natural  grace  and  culture  and  safe 
through  your  virtue  and  intelligence.  'Tis  yours  to  guide  the 
footsteps  and  form  the  habits  of  the  young  as  mother  and 
teacher,  an,d  yours  also  to  mould  society  by  models  of  virtue." 

These  noblest  of  noble  women  have  cheered  the  "  boys  "  in 
their  fight — have  made  the.darkest  days  of  trial  and  temptation 
light  and  bright  by  their  ennobling  presence,  their  influence 
and  earnestness.  Very  many  unfortuates,  staggering  down 
the  easy  road  of  sin,  and  tottering  On  the  brink  of  the  grave, 
have  been  guided  gently  away  from  it,  out  into  the  glad  light 
of  right  and  purity  ;  desolate  homes  have  been  brightened, 
and  made  homes  again  by  the  blessed  reformation,  through 
the  loving  labor  and  prayers  of  these  women,  of  the  dear 
ones  astray  ;  and  sad  hearts  cheered,  and  manhood  restored  to 
its  native  grandeur.  Not  once  did  these  Christian  women 
falter — not  once  did  they  lose  courage  and  hope  ;  but  steadily 
went  on,  day  in  and  day  out,  praying,  helping  and  saving. 
And  they  have  been  crowned  with  success  beyond  their  expec 
tations.  God  has  heard  them ;  and  through  them  hundreds 
have  been  plucked,  "  as  a  brand  from  the  burning,"  to  walk  in 
sobriety,  usefulness  and  happiness  along  the  way  of  life  to  the 
gates  of  Heaven,  which  will  be  wide  open  when  they  journey 
thitherward. 

The  anniversary  of  Francis  Murphy's  advent  in  Pittsburg 
was  observed  at  Library  Hall,  Sunday  night,  November 
25,  1877.  It  was  conducted  under  the  auspices  of  the  "Old 
Home "  Union,  and  was  a  grand  success  in  every  particular. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  645 

It  was  long  after  twelve  o'clock  ere  the  vast  assemblage  dis- 
persed. It  was  impossible  for  Francis  Murphy  to  be  present  ; 
but,  despite  this  great  drawback  and  disappointment,  the  ex- 
ercises were  of  a  most  interesting  character,  and  were  received 
with  much  applause.  That  giant  in  the  noble  army  of  tem- 
perance, Dave  Hall,  led  the  meeting  in  a  very  felicitous  man- 
ner ;  and  short,  entertaining  remarks  were  made  by  a  very 
large  number  of  the  most  prominent  "  boys."  The  great  work 
done  during  the  year  was  reviewed,  and  congratulations  ex- 
tended to  those  who  had  worked  so  well.  The  future  fields  in 
different  sections  of  the  country  were  discussed,  and  the  evil 
ahead  of  them  scanned  seriously.  Hands  were  grasped  in 
hearty  friendliness,  and  the  "boys"  were  drawn  yet  closer  to 
one  another,  and  strengthened  for  the  long  fight.  Could 
Francis  Murphy  have  seen  them,  how  glad  would  have  been 
his  great  heart !  Could  he  have  been  in  their  midst,  and 
heard  them  speak  of  him,  how  pleased  he  would  have 
been  !  It  was  a  night  never  to  be  forgotten.  It  will  live  in 
the  minds  of  those  that  participated  in  it  forever.  It  will  be 
looked  back  upon  with  emotions  that  are  utterly  indescribable. 

At  a  meeting  held  in  Oakland,  one  of  the  suburbs  of  Pitts- 
burgh, the  Rev.  Mr.  Vannote  introduced  W.  C.  Moreland, 
Esq.,  before  Mr.  Murphy,  then  in  Pittsburgh  on  a  short  visit, 
who  delivered  a  speech  as  follows  : 

"  There  has  grown  up  in  this  nation  a  custom  of  speech-mak- 
ing on  occasions  of  this  kind  when  distinguished  men  meet 
with  their  friends ;  and  extremely  is  it  my  duty  to-night  to 
welcome  a  man  whose  reputation  for  deeds  of  charity  and  love 
are  so  well  known  in  this  city.  I  know  that  he  needs  no  intro- 
duction at  my  hand  to  those  of  you  here  who  have  felt  the 
beneficent  influence  of  his  good  deeds.  His  name  has  become 
a  household  word  ;  his  labors  of  love  and  charity  are  so  well 
known  that  they  require  no  panegyric  from  me.  I  pray  God 
that  his  labors  shall  go  on  widening  until  still  greater  victo- 
ries are  gained  not  only  amongst  us  here  in  this  city,  but  all 
over  our  beloved  country.  As  he  has  manifested  all  that  is 


046  THE    LIFE  AND   WOKK   OF 

good  and  loving  in  man,  we  all  hope  that  he  may  ever  kocp 
his  name  unsullied  ;  that  he  may  not  weary  in  his  good  work, 
and  as  his  words  shall  go  ringing  in  our  valleys  and  over  our 
mountains  that  they  may  be  both  a  benison  and  a  benediction. 
May  there  be  open  hands  and  homes  here  %where  he  may  ever 
find  a  welcome.  Peace  and  happiness  attend  him.  And  now 
I  have  no  need  to  tell  you  that  I  refer  to  the  great'  apostle  of 
temperance,  Francis  Murphy,  who  will  now  speak  for  himself. 

Mr.  Murphy  was  then  introduced  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Vannote, 
and  spoke  in  the  following  happy  manner  : 
" Mr.  President: — 

"This  is  an  unexpected  honor  to  have  an  address  of  welcome 
given  me  in  this  beautiful  temple  of  worship.  I  do  not  know 
what  inconvenience  it  will  be  to  me  to  remain  here  to-night, 
but  whatever  it  might  be  I  think  Brother  Vannote  is  responsi- 
ble for  my  being  here.  He  has  a  faculty  for  holding  on  that 
I  could  not  overcome  ;  but  I  hope  that  Brother  Miller  will  be 
able  to  send  me  up  the  beautiful  waters  of  the  Monongahela 
in  time  for  me  to  meet  my  appointments. 

"  Anyhow,  I  am  very  glad  to  be  here.  I  feel  perfectly  at 
home  in  your  midst.  I  have  an  abiding  interest  in  this  city. 
My  youngest  daughter  is  with  Mr.  Dravo,  who  has  so  kindly 
given  her  a  place  in  his  good  home.  They  say  that  where  the 
heart  is  there  is  home,  and  my  heart  is  here  always.  I  am 
glad  to  be  here  and  respond  to  this  address  of  welcome. 

"  I  remember  very  well  the  first  time  I  spoke  to  you.  Mr. 
Moreland  introduced  me  to  the  people  of  Pittsburgh.  Feel- 
ing my  want  of  education  I  feared  that  I  would  not  be  able  to 
command  language  to  express  what  I  wanted  to  say.  I  looked 
at  this  young  David  who  has  no  difficulty  in  speaking.  He  is 
perfectly  at  ease  in  framing  his  thoughts  in  such  beautiful  lan- 
guage that  one  falls  in  love  with  him  while  listening  to  him. 
I  call  him  the  golden-mouthed  boy  of  Pittsburgh.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  movement  in  this  city  to  the  present  he  has 
been  my  steadfast  friend.  He  and  Brother  Vannote  have 
stood  steadfastly  by  me.  I  shall  never  forget  my  first  meeting 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  647 

with  my  dear  Brother  Vannote.  I  stepped  into  his  editorial 
sanctum  to  ascertain  whether  or  not  he  would  give  me  any  as- 
sistance through  his  paper.  He  looked  at  me  for  a  moment, 
and  I  suppose  thought  I  was  a  poor  excuse  for  a  temperance 
lecturer,  but  he  said :  '  We  will  give  you  a  hearing,'  and, 
blessed  be  God,  he  did  give  me  a  hearing.  Right  here  on 
this  stand  is  the  young  man  who  wrote  some  of  the  most 
favorable  reports  of  the  work  from  the  very  first.  I 
should  like  to  have  seen  the  young  man  who  gave  the 
first  report.  When  I  read  the  report  I  could  not  keep 
back  the  tears.  May  God  bless  the  daily  press  of  Pitts- 
burgh for  the  great  assistance  it  has  rendered  in  this  glorious 
Avork.  The  city  of  Pittsburgh  has  been  called  the  home  of 
this  great  moral  reform.  There  are  some  people  so  intent  on 
saving  one  portion  of  the  human  family  that  they  will  let  the 
other  be  lost.  They  do  not  realize  the  power  of  Divine  love, 
which  is  so  far  reaching  and  infinitely  greater  than  mere  human 
love.  There  is  a  great  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  way  of 
obtaining  total  abstinence.  This  movement  in  which  we  are 
engaged  proposes  to  save  all,  and  there  is  no  doubt -but  that  it 
will  be  a  grand  success  in  this  country.  There  are  good  men 
engaged  in  its  manufacture.  I  do  not  want  to  conduct  a  tem- 
perance reform  that  will  hurt  any  man.  We  must  not  con- 
demn any  one.  We  can  succeed  better  with  love  and  kind- 
ness according  to  our  motto,  '  With  Malice  toward  none,  and 
Charity  for  all.'  It  will  be  better  for  us  to  present  it  in  such 
a  way  that  all  men  will  fall  in  love  with  temperance,  and  not, 
compel  them  to  adopt  it. 

"  The  moment  you  begin  to  fight  men  that  moment  you  will 
find  opposition.  I  have  just  come  from  New  York  where  the 
hotels  are,  in  the  goodness  of  God,  giving  up  this  business. 
As  long  as  four-fifths  of  the  population  drink,  so  long  will  men 
engage  in  selling  rum,  and  it  cannot  be  stopped  unless  the  men 
can  be  induced  to  s;op  drinking.  You  can't  drive  them  ;  they 
will  find  ways  of  getting  it.  The  stringent  law  they  had  in 
Portland  couldn't  stop  it.  One  day  I  saw  there  was  an  old 


648  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK  OF 

lady  in  the  market  selling  eggs  at  a  dollar  and  a  half  a  dozen  ! 
The  wonderful  pullets  to  lay  such  eggs  !  !  But  the  eggs  had 
been  emptied  of  their  original  contents,  filled  with  whisky  and 
sealed  up  again.  I  never  fought  the  prohibitory  law.  When 
I  was  engaged  in  selling  liquor  in  Portland,  and  the  officers 
seized  my  stock,  I  never  attempted  to  get  it  back  by  false 
swearing.  There  were  men  who  were  regular  false  swearers, 
and  there  were  those  who  were  ever  ready  to  get  them  to 
swear  for  them.  They  were  professional  swearers  who  could 
be  obtained  whenever  they  were  wanted. 

"  This  is  a  handsome  picture.  This  church  so  nicely  decorated. 
There  are  some  beautiful  pictures  that  come  to  us  in  life.  I  re- 
member seeing  one  during  a  trip  I  once  took  to  the  mountains. 
It  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  as  we  drove  along  under  the  green 
canopy  of  the  forest — beautiful  birch  trees  and  maples  swing- 
ing back  and  forth  in  the  gentle  zephyrs — and  the  bright  sun- 
light of  heaven  dripping  down  through  the  foliage  as  though 
it  were  liquid  gold.  We  passed  on,  while  on  our  right  and 
left  the  rippling  brooks  from  the  hillsides  came  dancing  down 
until'they" reached  the  shaded  dell  below  where  they  flowed 
along  in  crystal  beauty.  But  we  were  anxious  to  get  a  view 
of  the  still  greater  beauty  that  was  soon  to  meet  our  admiring 
gaze.  Our  horses  were  urged  forward,  and  onward  and  up- 
ward we  went  until  we  reached  the  crown  of  the  hill  and  could 
see  the  beautiful  valley  spread  out  before  us.  The  majestic 
grandeur  of  the  scene  which  was  now  presented  to  our  aston- 
ished gaze  was  extremely  gratifying.  I  was  thrilled  to  the 
veriest  depths  of  my  heart.  Away  yonder  in  the  distance  I 
could  see  the  top  of  a  great  giant  which  stood  still  as  though 
dead,  and  nearly  concealed  by  the  distant  hills,  looking  like  a 
veil  thrown  over  it.  On  all  sides  we  could  see  the  moun- 
tains standing  in  all  their  glorious  majesty  with  their  crowned 
heads  bowing  to  each  other,  as  though  they  themselves  felt 
the  awful  grandeur  and  dignity  of  their  position.  I  looked  up 
into  the  sky  and  saw  the  bright  clouds — God's  chariots — so 
wonderful!]  white  that  there  was  not  a  speck  upon  them  ; 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  649 

there  they  rolled  along,  and  as  it  were,  enjoying  the  great 
beauty  of  the  scene  beneath.  I  shall  never  forget  the.  picture 
that  was  there  presented  to  my  wondering  view. 

"  But  what  was  that  compared  to  the  scene  here  to-night. 
You  are  all  gathered  here  to-night,  with  happy  hearts  in  this 
beautiful  temple  built  for  the  worship  of  God,  to  help  forward 
the  glorious  cause  of  truth  and  justice.  More  precious  is  the 
picture  which  we  enjoy  here  to-night  than  the  one  I  have  de- 
scribed. I  feel  that  I  shall  never  be  able  to  command  language 
adequate  to  give  a  description  of  it.  Grand  and  beautiful  as 
was  the  mountain  scenery  I  endeavored  to  describe,  it  will 
pass  away.  We  too,  shall  soon  pass  away  to  our  homes  above, 
to  scenes  of  infinitely  greater  beauty.  Beautiful  as  is  the 
world,  grand  as  are  many  of  its  scenes,  grander  and  more 
beautiful  still  is  a  purified  soul. 

"  May  it  be  the  delight  of  our  life  that  no  stain  or  dishonor 
shall  come  upon  us  ;  that  Christ  shall  live  in  us  and  reign  over 
us.  This  is  the  sincere  prayer  of  my  heart.  And  when  all  our 
meetings  are  over  here,  when  all  the  beautiful  things  of  this 
world  have  passed  away,  may  we  all  meet  in  the  efernal  sun- 
light of  joy  in  the  world  above.  Goodnight.  God  bless  you." 

The  wonderful  success  achieved  by  Francis  Murphy  the 
three  months  he  was  in  Pittsburgh,  travelled  to  Philadelphia, 
and  awakened  a  lively  interest  in  many  philanthropists  and 
prominent  gentlemen  of  that  city.  He  had  been  to  a  place 
notorious  for  its  very  drunkenness  ;  and  under  his  influence 
about  80,000  persons  appended  their  names  to  his  pledge  of 
total  abstinence.  What  untold  good  he  might  do  in  Philadel- 
phia !  These  gentlemen,  true  Christians,  every  one  of  them, 
realized  that  their  city  required  his  presence,  and  immediately, 
at  that ;  and  they  felt  assured  the  same  remarkable  success 
following  in  his  track,  wherever  he  went,  would  but  be  re- 
peated here. 

Stimulated  by  these  feelings  they  came  together,  and  agreed 
upon  some  definite  action.  Mr.  John  Wanamaker,  known 
almost  everywhere  as  one  of  the  most  successful  of  clothiers, 
28 


650  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

opened  a  correspondence  with  the  temperance  apostle,  the  re- 
sult of  which  was  an  earnest,  nay  urgent  invitation  to  the  lat- 
ter gentleman  from  the  former  to  come  among  them,  and  do 
what  he  could  to  lift  the  thousands  of  degraded,  drunken  per- 
sons, that  were  like  large  black  blots  on  their  community,  out 
of  the  low  position  into  which  they  had  fallen,  to  lead  useful, 
worthy  lives.  Francis  Murphy  was  not  the  man  to  be  deaf  to 
this  appeal,  or  likely  to  close  his  heart  to  it.  He  received  it 
gladly,  and  hastened  to  the  Quaker  City  as  if  on  flying 
pinions. 

On  Wednesday  evening,  March  7,  1877,  he  made  his  first 
appearance  in  the  Academy  of  Music.  The  vast  hall  was 
crowded  by  a  most  brilliant  and  appreciative  audience.  On 
the  stage  were  noted  clergymen  of  different  denominations. 
The  well  known  and  beloved  philanthropist,  George  H.  Stuart, 
presided,  and  made  some  happy  remarks.  Rev.  G.  Dana  Bord- 
man  read  a  passage  from  the  Scripture,  and  Rev.  Henry  C. 
McCook  lifted  his  voice  in  a  shoi't  prayer  of  great  power  and 
fervor. 

Colonel  G.  H.  Hetherington,  of  Pittsburgh,  rose,  and  re- 
marked that  he  had  come  with  Mr.  Murphy,  and  had  been  con- 
verted by  him  in  Pittsburgh,  and  described  what  good  had 
been  done  there,  and  what  was  going  on.  After  other  short 
speeches  from  noted  gentlemen,  Mr.  Murphy  was  introduced. 
He  stood  before  them  like  a  king,  and  every  eye  in  that  audi- 
ence "  took  in  "  his  personal  appearance.  What  they  beheld 
was  a  man  of  five  feet  ten  inches,  robust  and  leonine  physique, 
high,  broad  shoulders,  apparently  weighing  fully  one  hundred 
and  ninety  pounds  ;  a  short,  thick  neck,  supporting  a  long 
head,  with  closely  cut  iron-gray  hair,  a  low,  broad  brow,  deep 
set,  piercing  black  eyes,  bushy  black  eyebrows,  and  a  mouth 
wholly  concealed  by  an  enormous  coal-black  moustache.  His 
presence  was  attractive  and  imposing.  The  audience  was  in- 
stinctively drawn  to  him  by  an  open,  frank,  manly  way  he  had, 
and  a  certain  animal  magnetism,  with  which  he  is  surely  en- 
dowed. The  moment  he  opened  his  lips  and  spoke,  the  place 


FEANCIS    MTTKPHY.  651 

was  as  quiet  as  the  grave  ;  and  many  of  those  present  leaned 
eagerly  forward  to  catch  every  tone,  every  modulation  of  his 
deep,  rich,  and  vibrating  voice.  His  address  was  felicitous, 
and  was  full  of  humor.  He  pathetically  told  the  sad  story  of 
his  life,  graphically  showing  how  low  he  had  sunk  from  the 
use  of  intoxicating  drink. 

There  were  few  of  his  listeners  dry-eyed  as  he  told  them  of 
his  prison  life,  and  his  reformation  while  in  confinement.  With 
a  power  that  surprised  every  one  he  urged,  begged  all  young 
men  to  abstain  from  intoxicants  and  lead  pure,  sober  lives. 
At  his  cordial  invitation  hundreds  came  up  to  where  he  stood 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  lecture,  and  signed  the  pledge. 
This  was  the  first  appearance  of  Francis  Murphy  among  the 
Philadelphians ;  and  he  created  a  warm  impression.  His 
auditors  went  away  with  his  inspired  words  ringing  tuneful 
chimes  in  their  hearts,  and  with  his  noble  presence  reflected 
glowingly  before  their  mind's  eye.  It  was  no  easy  matter  to 
forget  his  imposing  front,  or  the  spell  it  cast  on*  all  that  came 
within  its  vicinity  ;  no  easy  matter  to  forget  what  he  said, 
so  earnest  was  he  from  first  to  last.  Mr.  Murphy  went  earn- 
estly to  work,  and  a  series  of  meetings  were  conducted  in  the 
Bethany  Sunday-school  building,  corner  of  Twenty-second 
and  Bainbridge  streets.  The  crowds  were  so  dense  that  the 
building  could  scarcely  contain  them.  Prominent  people, 
recognizing  what  great  good  might  result  from  the  cause, 
and  realizing  the  feeling  of  the  populace,  took  hold  of  it,  and 
seeing  the  necessity  of  a  larger  hall,  secured  the  gigantic 
Tabernacle  building  on  North  Broad  street.  On  some  occa- 
sions this  building  was  likewise  found  to  be  of  too  limited  a 
space  to  accommodate  the  eager  crowds  that  rushed  from  all 
points  to  see  and  hear  the  temperance  apostle. 

It  is  impossible  to  paint  the  picture  presented  at  each  meet- 
ing, and  whenever  or  wherever  Francis  Murphy  was  to  speak. 
It  was  like  an  ovation.  Ladies  pushed  forward  with  men  in 
the  general  rush  and  struggle  for  a  seat,  and  hundreds  waited 
hours  before  the  appointed  time  for  the  doors  to  be  flung 


652  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

open.  To  hear,  to  see  him,  seemed  to  be  the  only  wish  in  the 
hearts  of  thousands. 

When  in  his  presence  they  sat,  or  stood,  as  was  more  fre- 
quently the  case,  spell-bound,  and  wondering.  His  manly 
language  with  the  frequent  glimpses  of  eloquence,  his  gentle 
kindness  and  his  bright  encouragement,  appealed  to  their  bet- 
ter nature  ;  and  thousands  after  thousands  of  converts  have 
been  made  to  the  cause  of  temperance.  The  happy  ideas  of 
giving  Sunday  morning  breakfasts,  and  of  finding  clothing 
for  those  in  want,  and  employment  for  those  that  could  not 
procure  work,  did  much  to  spread  the  cause,  and  bring  peo- 
ple to  the  pledge-tables.  Many  poor  wretches,  friendless, 
homeless  and  moneyless  were  made  glad  by  the  fact  that  some 
one  cared  for  them,  and  would  help  them  if  they  would  en- 
deavor to  be  good.  They  were  willing  and  anxious  to  take 
the  pledge  ;  for  it  promised  them  so  bright  a  future,  and 
saved  them  from  the  dark,  awful,  yawning  abyss  that  stretched 
at  their  tottering  feet. 

The  statistics  laid  before  us  for  inspection  show  the  follow- 
ing goodly  results  :  In  fourteen  days  1942  men  were  lodged, 
and  1920  fed.  In  three  months  over  50,000  persons  signed  the 
Murphy  pledge.  Naturally,  among  so  vast  a  number  of  peo- 
ple, who  pledged  themselves  to  abstain  from  intoxicants,  some 
fell,  and  some  were  out  and  out  frauds.  The  former  were  too 
unstable  to  remain  deaf  to  the  alluring  voice  of  the  tempter, 
and  fell,  unable  to  bear  up  under  the  trying  strain.  These 
persons  are  more  to  be  pitied  then  blamed.  The  "  frauds  " 
were,  however,  quickly  detected,  and  received  the  deserts  which 
they  so  richly  deserved.  One  individual  was  sent  to  the  peni- 
tentiary. Having  obtained  the  position  as  usher  at  the  Murphy 
meetings,  he  went  for  some  time  upon  his  nefarious  way  un- 
suspected. He  wTas  finally  discovered  to  be  a  thief ;  it  was 
discovered  that  he  was  far  gone  in  crime  ;  that  he  had  stolen 
a  gold  watch  from  some  one  in  the  audience,  and  that  he  was 
an  old  and  hardened  criminal.  He  was  convicted  and  sen- 
tenced. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  653 

There  were  also  a  class  of  persons  who  signed  the  pledge 
just  for  the  purpose  of  bettering  their  condition,  and  making 
their  lot  in  life  somewhat  easier.  They  came  with  a  long, 
painful  stozy  of  their  want,  their  unhappy  lives,  and  succeeded 
in  getting  in  this  way  clothing,  which  was  immediately  taken 
off  to  some  pawn-broker,  and  enough  money  obtained  to  secure 
a  couple  of  glasses  of  drink.  These  characters  have  been  de- 
tected ;  but  they  form  a  very  small  part,  indeed,  of  those  that 
swell  the  temperance  wave  to  such  gigantic  proportions.  As 
a  whole  the  movement  has  been  what  it  was  intended  it  should 
be — a  pure,  noble  endeavor  to  reclaim  men  addicted  to  intoxi- 
cating liquors,  and  it  has  been  singularly  fortunate  in  being 
free  of  the  manifold  shams  and  frauds  that  crowd  other  move- 
ments, and  eventually  kill  them  by  their  baleful  presence.  Mr. 
Murphy  himself  claims  that  ninety  per  cent,  of  those  persons 
who  sign  the  pledge  at  his  meetings,  to  use  the  lecturer's  own 
expression,  "  stick."  Some  of  the  people  who  came  to  him 
dui'ing  the  great  revival  in  temperance  at  Philadelphia  were  of 
the  highest  social  standing  in  Pennsylvania,  people  of  wealth, 
education,  and  intelligence  of  the  most  marked  order.  They 
had  fallen  into  the  common  pitfall  Satan  has  dug  for  his  vic- 
tims, and  were  going  down  step  by  step  to  a  dishonored  grave, 
regardless  of  their  position  in  the  world,  where  they  were 
lights  and  examples  to  the  thousands  beneath  them.  By  the 
blessed  power  of  Francis  Murphy  they  were  plucked  like  the 
"  brand  from  the  burning " — saved  to  go  forth  like  men, 
preaching  to  and  saving  others. 

The  greatest  number  of  Mr.  Murphy's  converts,  however, 
spring  from  the  humble  walks  in  life.  Men  who  are  hardened 
by  a  life-long  battle  with  grim  poverty ;  who  have  scarcely 
known  what  it  is  to  have  a  real  holiday  ;  whose  days  seem  but 
one  continuous  ditty  of  a  monotonous  character,  without  one 
redeeming  or  pleasing  quality — these  creatures  were  those  that 
rallied  around  the  temperance  hero,  and  breathed  new  life, 
hope,  faith,  and  joy  under  his  genial  smile.  To  these  people 


654  THE  LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

he  is  as  one  sent  to  them  by  the  Most  High — he  is  truly  a  hero 
in  every  acceptation  of  the  term. 

They  have  listened  to  him  eagerly,  and  have  followed  out  his 
wishes  ;  they  have  taken  his  pledge  ;  they  have  embraced  re- 
ligion ;  they  have  turned  over  a  fresh  leaf,  and  have  led  new 
lives  ;  they  have  been  imbued  with  hope  and  faith  in  the 
hereafter  ;  they  have  become  men,  every  one  of  them — true 
gentlemen,  despite  their  rough  ways,  their  hard  lives,  and  their 
uncultured  minds.  Of  such  excellent  material  has  this  tem- 
perance reform  been  made,  that  through  its  truth  and  sincerity 
it  will  live  forever.  It  was  hard  for  many  to  believe  the  won- 
derful remarks  and  reports  flying  here,  there,  and  everywhere, 
about  Mr.  Murphy  and  the  good  he  was  doing.  It  was  hard 
to  believe  one  man  had  the  power  to  do  so  much  good  ;  and 
then,  too,  to  accomplish  it  all  in  such  short  time.  Was  it 
really  so,  or  was  it  but  a  lot  of  exaggerated  rubbish  ?  The 
unbelievers  went  to  hear  him  to  judge  for  themselves,  an<? 
were  convinced,  before  they  returned  to  their  homes,  that  all 
that  was  said  of  Francis  Murphy  and  his  work  was  the  truth. 
And  they,  too,  become  believers,  and  sign  his  pledge.  As  it  has 
been  most  aptly  remarked  by  a  noted  Philadelphia  newspaper  : 

"  The  evils  of  intemperance  are  known  to  those  whom  he 
addresses.  In  almost  every  breast  there  lurks  a  deep  desire  to 
burst  from  th«  fetters  with  which  it  has  bound  them  ;  to  lead 
new  lives,  and  become  honored  and  respected  ^in  society. 
They  well  know  the  many  sorrows  and  trials  that  a  career  of 
intemperance  has  brought  upon  them  ;  and  hence  it  is  when 
Mr.  Murphy,  in  a  persuasive  and  affectionate  manner,  points 
out  to  them  the  way  of  relief,  and  shows  the  error  of  their 
ways,  they  are  at  once  convinced  of  his  truthfulness. 

"  He  touches  the  latent  desire  for  a  reformation.  By  his 
'<aquence  he  arouses  a  feeling  of  resolve  ;  and  men  are  per- 
r  (,  dded  to  exercise  and  put  into  execution  a  will  to  do  better, 
xie  shows  that  if  we  have  not  the  will  so  to  do,  we  surely  can- 
not avoid  that  temptation  which  brings  contempt,  disgrace 
and  misery." 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  655 

"He  deals  in  no  invectives;  wounds  not  the  sensibilities 
(for  these  are  possessed  by  all,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree)  of 
the  fallen ;  but  persuades  and  leads  them  to  make  an  effort 
— for  having  once  obtained  their  signature  to  the  pledge,  he 
knows  one  great  point  has  been  gained.  This  accomplished,  he 
encourages  them  to  keep  it ;  and  not  by.  words  alone,  but  by 
deeds. 

"  A  Divine  Providence  has  indeed  blessed  Mr.  Murphy's 
labors.  Pie  has  been  made  the  humble  instrument  of  saving 
many  souls  and  bringing  them  within  the  means  of  Grace. 

"  To  him,  it  is  a  labor  of  love.  Night  and  day  he  pursues 
his  self-imposed  task,  and  with  no  other  desii-e  of  reward  than 
that  of  accomplishing  grand  results.  That  his  very  heart  and 
soul  are  wrapped  up  in  his  cause,  is  evident  from  the  fervent 
appeals  made  by  him,  at  each  and  every  meeting,  with  all  the 
energy  and  fire  of  a  true  orator." 

Throughout  his  labors  he  maintained  one  course  in  rela- 
tion to  those  parties  engaged  in  the  sale  of  liquors.  He  would 
not  spend  his  valuable  time  and  efforts  in  abusing  them,  nor 
would  he  become  their  defender  or  apologist.  He  saw  from 
the  outset  of  his  crusade  that  there  was  no  possibility  whatever 
of  anathematizing  them  out  of  their  business  ;  arid  that  it  was 
most  unwise  to  waste  his  labor  in  that  direction.  In  this  par- 
ticular he  differed  from  the  general  temperance  speakers  and 
workers.  All  he  asked  was  that  all,  drunkards,  liquor-dealers, 
everybody  in  fact  should  come  to  him,  and  he  would  prove  to 
them  the  right  and  the  wrong  of  the  thing. 

In  his  work  he  was  nerved  with  the  sense  of  the  justice  of 
the  noble  cause.  He  was  wrapped  up  body  and  soul  in  one 
absorbing  object — temperance.  His  truths  have  lighted  up 
the  dark  places,  and  have  shone  like  celestial  torches.  People 
have  been  drawn  to  the  movement  by  his  warm  affection  for 
it,  by  the  conviction  that  God's  hand  was  uppermost  in  the 
work  done.  Prejudices  have  been  overthrown  ;  and  he  has 
gone  forward,  overcoming  all  hindrances  of  an  unworthy 
nature  by  his  truth,  faith  and  earnestness,  and  making  wonder- 


656  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

ful  success  everywhere.  His  name  alone  is  now  enough  to 
keep  the  movement  alive  ;  for  the  thousands  that  have  been 
saved  by  him  rush  to  hear  it,  and  send  it  up  in  prayer  daily  to 
the  throne  of  God.  He  can  never  be  foi'gotten,  or  regarded  in 
a  cold,  indifferent  manner  by  any  who  has  heard  him.  He  is 
loved  by  ^11  ;  and  he  will  always  be  regarded  as  a  grand 
crusader  in  the  great  cause  of  temperance. 

One  of  the  most  intei'esting  features  of  the  movement  in 
Philadelphia  was  the  plan  of  giving  Sunday  breakfasts.  This 
was  Mr.  Murphy's  plan,  and  it  met  with  wonderful  success. 
The  following  account  of  a  newspaper  reporter  will  be  pe- 
rused with  pleasure,  as  it  gives  so  happy  a  description  of  this 
successful  innovation  in  temperance  reform  : 

"  The  success  of  what  may  seriously  be  termed  the  provi- 
dential— it  is  certainly  a  '  happy  idea '  of  Mr.  Murphy,  the 
new  apostle  of  temperance,  to  appeal  to  the  conscience  of  the 
inebriate  under  the  influence  of  a  full  stomach — was  plainly 
manifested  yesterday  morning  at  the  free  Sabbath  breakfast 
given  under  the  auspices  of  the  National  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union,  in  the  annex  building  of  the  Academy  of  Fine 
Arts. 

"  By  actual  count  the  breakfast  was  partaken  of  by  five 
hundred  and  forty  three  men,  twenty  or  more  women,  several 
children,  and  a  couple  of  babies  ;  the  latter,  although  small  in 
numbers  and  in  their  mothers'  laps,  being  the  most  demonstra- 
tive in  the  expression  of  the  gratitude  which  was  pictured  on 
each  and  every  countenance,  without  regard  to  sex,  nativity, 
color,  '  or  previous  condition  of  servitude '  to  rum. 

"  The  occasion  yesterday  was  increased  in  interest  from  the 
fact  that  the  man  who,  seven  years  ago,  had  rescued  Mr. 
Murphy  from  prison  and  shame,  and  thus  restored  him  to  his 
manhood,  was  present  on  the  platform,  sitting  beside  the 
man  he  had  restored  to  society,  and  subsequently  briefly 
addressing  the  assemblage. 

" '  I  toll  you,  I'd  rather  starve  than  go  and  be  fed  like  a 
pauper,'  was  the  remark  that  fell  on  the  ear  as  he  passed  a 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  657 

group  of  seedily-dressed  men  standing  at  the  corner  of  Broad 
and  Race  streets  shortly  before  eight  o'clock  yesterday  morn- 
ing. The  clouds  were  gathering  and  a  rain  was  threatening 
at  every  moment. 

"  I  know  how  it  will  be  ;  we  will  all  be  gathered  like  dogs, 
or  rather  hogs,  up  to  a  narrow  table,  and  a  hundred  or  more 
more  of  us,  blacks  and  whites,  will  be  tusseling  with  each 
other  after  a  plate  of  weak  soup  ;  and  then  we'll  have  to  hal- 
loo out  psalms  and  get  down  on  our  marrow  bones  for  an  hour 
or  two,  and  then  listen  till  twelve  o'clock  all  about  how  wicked 
we  are  and  all  that,  as  if  we  didn't  know  it  already.  No  ;  I 
say,  boys,  I  think  I  can  get  that  fellow  over  at  the  corner 
where  we  spent  our  money  last  night  to  'hang,  us  up'  fora 
round  of  beer,  and  he'll  have  a  bully  lunch — a  whole  lot  of 
sausage,  fixings,  and  black  bread,  besides  tiptop  soup  at  ten 
o'clock,  and  we  can  sit  down  and  enjoy  it  ;  what  do  you  say  ? 
Let's  go  over  and  see  whether  the  landlord  is  up  yet. 

"  Just  as  a  decisive  vote  was  taken  by  an  advance  movement 
toward  the  beer  shop,  the  spokesman  who  led  the  way  was 
stopped  suddenly  by  a  young  lady,  plainly  but  neatly  dressed, 
and  wearing  a  countenance  expressive  of  pure  benevolence. 
The  innate  nature  of  the  man  made  him  gentle  enough  to 
accept  a  printed  card  which  she  had  politely  extended  to  him  ; 
and  the  others  followed  his  example  with  a  'Thank  you, 
miss  ! ' 

" '  Why,  it's  not  a  tract,'  exclaimed  the  spokesman,  in  aston- 
ishment, after  the  young  lady  had  passed  on.  '  By  Jove,  if  it 
ain't  a  polite  invitation  for  us  to  go  and  take  breakfast  with. 
Murphy.' 

"  '  Well,  now,  that's  another  kink.  Murphy,  I  understood, 
says  he  was  once  as  '  hard  up '  and  as  '  down  in  the  heels '  as 
we  are.  We  are  his  peers!  and  as  Mr.  Murphy  is  so  polite  as 
to  extend  us  an  invitation  in  his  formal  way,  why  we  can't  do 
anything  else  but  to  accept  it,  or  send  him  a  letter  of  regret.' 

"  And  the  speaker  and  his  companions  laughed  a  very  hun- 
gry laugh,  as  he  gave  the  order,  '  Right  about  face,  boys  !  I 
28* 


658  THE   LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

have  known  iu  ray  time  what  polite  society  requires.  Murphy 
is  a  brick,  and  we  mustn't  go  back  on  him.' 

"And  the  reporter  followed  the  party  into  the  breakfast 
room.  The  aroma  of  coffee  that  met  the  nostrils  as  one  entered 
the  door  made  the  appetite  keen.  A  number  of  well-dressed 
young  men  were  quietly  but  swiftly  passing  around  among 
five  hundred  or  more  of  shabbily-dressed  men  and  women, 
politely  filling  the  neat  cups  of  queensware  which  each  of  the 
latter  held  in  their  hands. 

"  Then  followed  another  company  of  young  men  with  trays 
heaped  with  the  most  appetizing  sandwiches — not  the  sawdust 
sandwiches  the  traveller  has  to  put  up  with  at  the  railroad 
stations,  but  sandwiches  that '  melted  in  the  mouth,'  as  it  were, 
and  made  the  eater  an  Oliver  Twist,  wanting  '  more.' 

"The  reporter  couldn't  stand  the  temptation,  and,  although 
he  had  not  received  any  formal  invitation  from  Mr.  Murphy, 
he  went  in  and  '  joined  in  the  crowd,'  and  the  thought  of 
'  what  a  good  provider  Mr.  Murphy  must  be'  had  hardly  re- 
volved itself  in  the  minds  of  his  guests,  as  they  were  laying  aside 
their  cups  and  wiping  their  mouths,  when  the  coffee  and  sand- 
wich companies  of  young  men  came  among  them  again — this 
time  not  only  filling  the  cups,  but  inviting  each  and  every 
guest  to  take  a  couple  of  sandwiches  this  time,  or  more  if  he 
felt  he  could  '  go  it.' 

"  And  all  this  time  a  choir  of  young  ladies  were  singing  the 
beautiful  hymns,  *  What  a  friend  a  we  have  in  Jesus,'  and  the 
like.  So  that  after  all  had  eaten,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Saul,  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  had  read  the  '  lesson  of  the  day  '  from  St. 
Matthew,  '  No  man  can  serve  two  masters,'  and  Rev.  Dr. 
Kynett  had  delivered  an  impressive  prayer  of  thanks,  the  con- 
gregation got  quite  sociable  and  became  like  members  of  one 
family,  saying,  '  Ain't  this  jolly,'  to  each  other. 

"  And  then  some  of  the  men  began  to  adjust  their  hair  a 
little  neatly,  brushing  down  the  stray  locks,  etc.,  and  the 
women  'spruced  up'  their  bonnets  or  head  gearing  and  spread 
out  their  dresses  in  a  way  to  hide  any  holes  or  patches. 


FEAKCIS    MUKPHY.  659 

"  It  was  noticeable  that  the  large  majority  of  the  men  had 
clean  faces,  although  their  countenances  in  many  cases  may 
have  been  a  little  weather-beaten. 

"  The  dropping  of  a  pin  might  have  been  heard  when  Mrs. 
Lincoln  sang  the  beautiful  hymn,  '  What  shall  the  harvest 
be  ?'  The  entire  congregation  joined  in  the  chorus  in  voices, 
which  although  coarse,  gave  evidence  of  devotion.  In  the 
meantime,  Mr.  Murphy,  Mr. ,  Stewart,  Rev.  Dr.  Westwood, 
Rev.  Dr.  Curry,  and  others  went  among  the  people,  shaking 
hands,  congratulating  those  who  had  already  signed  and  kept 
the  pledge,  and  cheering  others  who  had  not  yet,  but  contem- 
plated doing  so  ;  while  a  kindly-looking,  white-haired  physi- 
cian went  among  the  mothers  giving  them  advice  as  to  the  ail- 
ings  of  their  children  and  babies.  One  little  youngster  felt  so 
contented  that  he  tried '  playing  hide-and-seek  under  the  re- 
porters' tables,  which  are  located  directly  in  front  of  the  plat- 
form. 

"  Everybody  seemed  to  feel  at  home  and  happy  ;  and  as 
Mr.  Murphy  walked  down  the  aisle  arm-in-arm  with  the  well- 
known  journalist  familiarly  called  '  Deacon  Jones' — his  latest 
convert  of  prominence — the  people  began  to  applaud  ;  but  this 
was  speedily  checked  when  Mr.  Bailey  reminded  them  of  the 
day." 

This  movement  was  not  generally  considered  a  struggle  in 
which,  by  kind  words  and  gentle  acts,  men  were  carefully 
guided  away  from  the  abyss  upon  whose  brink  they  stood, 
ready  to  topple  over  any  minute.  It  was  considered  by  a 
great  many  as  a  direct  fight  with  King  Alcohol ;  that  men 
who  fell  at  this  despot's  feet  in  cringing  homage  had  long  been 
contemplating  it ;  and  that  they  were  only  waiting  for  one 
to  take  the  high  place  of  leader  at  the  head  of  their  ranks. 

The  country  was  ready  for  the  crusade,  as  drunkenness 
was  frowned  upon  by  society  and  considered  disgraceful  as 
well  as  criminal ;  and  the  very  ones  addicted  to  this  awful 
indulgence  were  only  awaiting  a  good  and  fitting  opportunity 
to  fight  their  way  back  to  honorable,  sober  and  worthy  lives. 


660  THE  LIFE  AND  WOEK  OF 

Great  movements  are,  as  a  rule,  created  and  conducted  by  a 
master  mind.  God  prepares  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  peo- 
ple for  it ;  the  very  air  seems  to  breathe  what  is  to  take  place. 
All  that  is  required  to  start  the  movement,  and  to  arouse  the 
people,  is  an  instrument  of  his  power.  Through  the  humblest 
means  he  woi'ks  miracles.  In  this  great  moment  Francis 
Murphy  was  chosen  and  saved,  so  that  he  might  go  and  oc- 
cupy the  position  selected  for  him,  and  for  him  alone.  And, 
realizing  some  mysterious  and  all-powerful  agency,  he  accepted 
what  seemed  the  only  thing  for  him  to  do,  and  nobly  went 
forth  to  battle  against  intemperance.  Wherever  he  went,  and 
whenever  he  spoke  the  power  of  God  seemed  to  be  with  him, 
crowning  his  every  effort  with  wonderful  success.  Indeed  he 
seemed  inspired.  His  eloquence  aroused  his  hearers  into 
great  and  positive  enthusiasm,  and  he  swayed  them  at  bis  will. 
What  he  did  at  one  point  would  electrify  and  start  another 
into  a  perfect  blaze  of  earnest  effort  and  warm  enthusiasm. 

In  some  places,  and  even  small  cities,  one-half  of  the  popu- 
lation have  signed  the  pledge,  and  become  Murphy  men.  In 
some  the  whole  place  has  been  captured,  and  not  a  drop  of 
liquor  has  been  sold  there.  In  others,  every  tavern  and  every 
saloon  were  obliged  to  close  their  doors,  and  the  alcoholic  liquors 
have  been,  by  the  proprietors,  emptied  into  the  streets  to  min- 
gle with  the  dirt,  amidst  the  wildest  excitement  and  delight 
of  the  people  devoted  to  the  noble  cause  of  total  abstinence. 
Where  this  movement  will  end  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  say  ; 
and  the  results  that  spring  from  it  cannot  be  estimated.  The 
country  has  embraced  the  cause  with  a  fervor  that  amazes  all; 
but  amazement  gives  place  to  conviction  when  the  unbelievers 
are  brought  within  the  influence  of  the  hero  of  it,  and  his 
many  zealous  and  powerful  co-workers.  Their  earnestness,  truth 
and  steadfastness  carries  everything  before  them. 

On  the  evening  of  May  25,  1877,  a  mass  meeting  of 
churches  was  held  in  the  Tabernacle  M.  E.  Church  on  Eleventh 
street,  Philadelphia,  to  support  the  Mayor  of  Philadelphia  in 
his  efforts  to  close  the  drinking  saloons  on  Sunday.  There 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  661 

was  an  immense  audience  presenc,  for  the  subject  had  been 
discussed  in  every  phase,  and  the  demand  of  the  people  for 
some  definite  action  in  the  matter  was  no  longer  to  be  left 
unheeded  by  those  parties  in  public  offices.  Many  distin- 
guished gentlemen  were  present,  and  some  remarkably  fine 
addresses  were  delivered.  In  the  earlier  part  of  the  evening 
Mr.  Murphy  was  introduced,  and  received  a  thundering  recep- 
tion. For  some  seconds  he  was  kept  bowing  to  the  very  hearty 
applause,  which  he  did  in  his  affable  fashion,  so  dear  to  the 
thousands  who  know  him.  His  speech,  which  we  give,  was 
received  with  expressions,  on  all  sides,  of  genuine  delight  and 
interest.  He  said  : 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  come  here  for  a  few  moments  before 
going  to  the  Annex.  I  am  glad  to  know  that  God's  people 
are  going  to  take  hold  of  this  work.  I  believe  that  everything 
that  will  make  men  true  and  grand  will  be  found  in  the  Church 
of  Christ.  If  political  meetings  were  held  in  churches  instead 
of  in  rum  shops  we  would  have  a  better  government.  My 
faith  is  in  the  means  now  being  employed  in  emancipating  all 
of  us  from  the  curse  of  drunkenness.  The  Sons  of  Temper- 
ance and  Good  Templars  have  done  valiant  work ;  but  the 
trouble  is,  there  has  not  been  enough.  We  hardly  ever  hear 
of  a  man  being  converted  in  a  Good  Templar  lodge.  The 
mistake  is  not  with  the  young  men  ;  it  is  with  ourselves  to-day. 
It  is  the  duty  of  e.very  man  to  so  present  the  truth  of  God 
that  they  become  interested  in  it.  Before  I  leave  the  city  I 
want  to  get  the  autograph  of  every  one  who  has  signed  my 
pledge,  and  find  out  what  church  he  would  like  to  attend.  It 
is  a  blessed  thing  we  have  a  temperance  movement  now  that 
is  non-political.  It  must  be  kept  from  politics  and  sectarian- 
ism. I  was  not  compelled  to  give  up  tobacco  in  consequence 
of  any  brow-beating ;  but  I  made  up  my  mind  to  leave  it  off. 
I  would  say  to  the  young  men  who  are  not  smoking  men,  don't 
do  it,  as  it  is  a  dreadfully  unpleasant  habit  to  cultivate.  A 
great  many  people  believed  that  I  would  not  keep  my  pledge 
not  to  drink,  and  would  go  to  selling  liquor  again  ;  but  they 


662  THE  LIFE  ATSTD  WORK   OF 

did  not  know  my  heart.  Instead  of  closing  the  saloons  one 
day  let  us  close  them  every  day  in  the  week,  and  keep  them 
closed. 

"  Do  not  let  us  be  discouraged.  Let  us  put  on  the  whole 
armor  of  God.  Let  us  stand  foot  to  foot  until  the  last  saloon 
is  closed,  and  the  fire  put  out  of  the  last  distillery.  I  hope 
the  rum-shops  will  be  hermetically  sealed  on  Sunday  and 
closed  throughout  the  week." 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  663 


CHAPTER    V.  « 

HOW  THE  WORK  PROCEEDED  IN  THE  CITY  OF  BROTHERLY 
LOVE. — CO-OPERATION"  OF  THE  LADIES  AND  THE  CHURCHES. 
ANECDOTES,  ADDRESSES,  AND  PERSONAL  INCIDENTS. 

A  VERY  interesting  feature  of  the  Philadelphia  movement 
was  the  children's  meetings.  These  were  largely  attended, 
and  the  brave  little  people  succeeded  in  doing  a  great  deal  of 
good.  They  signed  the  pledge,  and  got  a  number  to  sign  also. 
Here  we  see  a  charming  illustration  of  future  excellency  and 
honor — little  children  going  forward,  and  taking  a  pledge  that 
is  as  binding  as  any  other  oath  registered  before  God  or  man, 
promising  to  avoid  all  intoxicants  as  a  beverage  for  the  time 
being  and  to  come.  Here  we  kill  the  awful  evil  before  it  is 
born,  and  lay  a  foundation  for  glorious  manhood.  Mr.  Mur- 
phy was  always  seen  at  his  best  at  these  meetings.  A  father 
himself,  and  passionately  fond  of  children,  he  knew  exactly 
how  to  address  them,  and  make  an  impression.  His  addresses 
to  them  were  master-pieces  of  simplicity  and  charming  rhet- 
oric ;  and  he  enjoyed  being  with  them  as  much  as  they  did 
with  him.  On  one  occasion — Saturday  afternoon,  April  14th, 
— Concert  Hall  was  jammed  with  the  little  people  of  all 
classes,  from  the  fine  miss  from  an  Arch  street  mansion  to  the 
ragged  bootblack.  Mr.  Murphy  was  unusually  felicitous  in 
his  remarks,  and  three  hundred  children  went  up  to  the  pledge 
tables.  Those  who  were  present  will  always  remember  the 
tender  look  of  the  famous  orator,  his  affectionate  greeting  to 
each  signer,  as  one  by  one  they  came  up,  and  the  way  he 
kissed  a  happy  little  one  now  and  then,  in  his  delight  and 
supreme  satisfaction. 


664  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

The  cause  was  very  much  strengthened  by  the  hearty  co- 
operation of  the  ladies  of  Philadelphia.  These  noble  women 
were  active  and  zealous,  and  did  more  good  than  mere  words 
can  express.  They  were  anxious  and  ready  to  extend  to  all 
in  need  and  suffering  a  kind,  helping  hand  ;  and  many  a  de- 
spjuring  one,  close  upon  the  gloomy  region  of  the  valley  of 
death,  was  saved  by  them.  They  recognized  that  something 
else  besides  preaching  and  praying  was  required  to  fully 
establish  temperance,  and  went  quietly  and  steadily  to  carry 
out  their  plans  in  an  orderly  and  systematic  manner.  The 
hungry  required  food,  and.  those  in  rags  needed  decent  rai- 
ment. These  demands  were  quickly  gratified.  The  ladies 
organized  society  after  society  in  the  various  churches  ;  and 
soon  they  were  engaged  as  busily  and  as  steadfastly  in  the 
movement  as  any  other  body  connected  with  it.  At  the  close 
of  the  noonday  prayer-meetings,  when  so  very  many  had  been 
saved  from  the  delusive  snares  of  intemperance,  tables  laden 
with  good  substantial  food  stood  free  and  ready  for  the  hun- 
gry. How  glad  it  made  the  hearts  of  the  poor,  unfortunate 
beings  !  And  how  eagerly  they  enjoyed  the  bounteous  repast ! 

The  ladies,  at  whose  head  was  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmeyer,  a 
lady  well  known  throughout  the  country  as  a  true  Christian, 
and  a  successful  writer  and  publisher  of  several  Christian 
journals,  held  meetings  for  several  weeks  in  the  lecture  room 
of  the  Central  Coffee  House.  This  building  could  not  accom- 
modate the  dense  crowds  that  thronged  to  the  meetings  ;  and 
consequently  they  moved  to  the  Mission  building  of  the  West 
Arch  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  the  use  of  which  was  tend- 
ered them  free  of  all  expense.  Here  they  labored,  holding 
their  prayer-meetings,  and  supplying  the  hungry  with  food 
and  the  ragged  with  clothes,  with  wonderful  ability,  and  suc- 
ceeded until,  it  also  becoming  of  too  limited  a  capacity  for 
their  visitors,  they  rented  the  hall  and  rooms  at  1635  Market 
street.  It  would  be  utterly  out  of  the  question  to  give  an  accu- 
rate statistical  account  of  the  good  these  noble  women  did  in  the 
cause  ;  for  there  was  110  time  for  them  to  make  reports,  their 


FEANCia    MUEPHY.  665 

efforts  and  their  work  being  absorbed  by  Francis  Murphy's 
labor  at  the  time.  They  cast  in  their  labors,  asking  no  recog- 
nition for  their  woman's  work.  They  were  willing  to  push 
the  mo  ement  on  Avithout  their  names  being  brought  before 
the  public  in  any  way  ;  and  nobly  did  they  push  it,  doing 
good  in  a  thousand  ways  as  only  true,  pure  Christian  women 
know  how.  A  lodging-house  for  the  homeless  was  provided 
by  these  ladies  a  few  doors  below  No.  1635.  This  building 
was  neatly  and  comfortably  fitted  up  ;  and  was  a  perfect  God- 
send to  the  poor  wanderers  of  humanity.  Here  they  could  rest 
their  weary  limbs,  and  enjoy  the  quiet  and  sweet  repose  under 
a  most  hospitable  roof,  and  be  cared  for  by  noble,  loving  women. 

In  pursuing  the  history  of  the  salient  facts  of  the  Mur- 
phy movement,  our  readers  will  already  have  seen  the  dif- 
ficulty of  pursuing  the  consecutively  narrative  form,  or  being 
strictly  faithful  to  chronological  order.  The  facts  repeated 
themselves  under  new  phases  at  each  place  visited  by  Mr.  Mur- 
phy, the  meetings  were  conducted  on  the  same  principles,  and 
of  course  there  was  a  certain  monotony  in  the  general  features 
of  Murphy's  efforts,  though  there  was  never-failing  and  intense 
interest,  no  matter  how  long  the  revival  season  might  be. 
Still  there  were  certain  characteristics  peculiar  to  each  place, 
that  were  reproduced  in  the  external  embodiment  of  the  cause 
and  the  efforts  used  to  push  it.  After  all  no  more  vivid  and 
truthful  clues  can  be  given  to  the  real  marrow  and  signifi- 
cance of  the  Murphy  movement  than  in  personal  traits, 
incidents,  and  addresses.  So  before  completing  a  general  sum- 
mary and  weighing  the  aggregate  results  of  the  great  temper- 
ance advocate's  efforts  at  Philadelphia,  our  readers  will  be 
interested  in  a  series  of  sketches  and  anecdotes,  as  well  as  ex- 
tracts from  speeches.  These  we  shall  offer  without  direct 
reference  to  the  time  of  happening,  as  they  are  all  interesting 
illustrations,  which  might  have  happened  at  any  period  of  the 
Quaker  City  revival. 

Francis  Murphy  and  Mr.  J.  L.  Bailey,  were,  on  one  occasion, 
walking  to  the  hall  where  the  meetings  were  held.  They  were 


666  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OP 

about  passing  the  doors  of  a  saloon  when  Mr.  Murphy  turned 
abruptly,  and  said  quickly,  "  Let  us  go  in  here."  They  walked 
into  the  saloon,  and  up  to  the  bar,  iu  front  of  which  stood 
three  fine-looking  young  men  each  having  a  tumbler  contain- 
ing liquor  before  him.  The  entrance  of  the  two  strange  gen- 
tlemen suspended  the  drinking  just  as  it  was  about  to  begin. 
Mr.  Murphy  stepped  up  to  the  bar-tender  and  grasping  his 
hand,  said,  "  How  are  you,  sir  ?  God  bless  you  !"  He  turned 
to  the  young  men,  and  shook  hands  with  each  of  them,  giving 
each  in  turn  his  blessing,  and  then  said,  pointing  to  the  glasses, 
"Brothers,  I  wouldn't  drink  that.  I  wish  you  would  come 
with  me  to  our  meeting."  He  made  himself  known  to  the  men, 
and,  after  some  kindly  remarks  to  the  bar-tender,  left  the  place 
followed  by  the  three  young  men,  who  left  the  liquor  they  had 
paid  for  untouched  on  the  bar. 

W.  R.  Bucknell  said  in  the  Tabernacle  that  he  had  arrived 
at  that  despairing  point  in  life  when  hope  seemed  a  mere  myth, 
and  thought  himself  lost  to  all  things  honorable  and  correct, 
until  God  in  his  infinite  mercy  saw  fit  to  bring  him  back.  He 
felt  certain  that,  if  he  could  be  saved,  there  was  not  a  single 
person  in  the  building  that  could  not  be.  He  earnestly  be- 
sought moderate  drinkers  to  abstain  altogether  from  intoxi- 
cants, and  to  sign  the  pledge.  They  could  at  least  do  great 
good  by  praying  for  their  friends  ;  God  was  a  true  hearer  and 
answerer  of  prayers. 

Mr.  Warden  gave  a  most  interesting  account  of  an  acquaint- 
ance of  his,  who  had  come  from  Pittsburg  to  Philadelphia 
during  the  proceedings  of  the  temperance  movement,  and  who 
had  been  urged  again  and  again  to  sign  the  pledge.  He  posi- 
tively refused  to  do  so,  saying  that,  although  he  did  drink  and 
sometimes  drank  more  than  he  should,  he  could  abstain  when 
he  pleased,  and  did  not  need  the  restraints  of  a  pledge  to  keep 
him  from  going  wrong.  When,  however,  he  had  yielded  to 
the  urgency  of  his  friends,  and  had  attended  one  or  two  meet- 
ings he  made  up  his  mind  to  sign  the  pledge.  Going  back  to 
Pittsburgh  he  was  not  satisfied  to  remain  idle,  so  exerted 


FBANCIS    MUEPHY.  667 

himself  to  save  others,  and  was  now  doing  a  good  work 
there. 

Mr.  Emory  said  felicitously,  before  an  immense  audience, 
that  he  had  turned  away  from  his  former  habits  only  fourteen 
days  ago.  He  had  sunk  to  a  lamentable  depth  of  degradation, 
after  being  a  good  member  of  the  church  and  a  Sunday-school 
teacher.  He  expected  to  encounter  temptations ;  but  with 
God's  help,  meant  to  steer  clear  of  them.  He  entreated  all 
present  to  pray  for  him. 

A  son  from  green  Erin  was,  on  one  occasion,  brought  for- 
ward with  some  difficulty,  and  urged  to  tell  his  experience  to 
the  listening  crowd.  He  was  received  with  applause,  and  he 
quaintly  said  :  "  Ladies  and  gentlemen — I  have  been  a  very 
bad  man,  and  have  been  in  the  habit  of  drinking  for  many 
years  ;  but  I  signed  the  pledge  yesterday,  and  I  tell  you  all 
that  I  mean  to  keep  it." 

Professor  Kelley,  of  Pittsburgh,  was  introduced  at  one  of 
the  meetings,  and  said  that  he  felt  a  stronger  and  much  better 
man  than  he  was  two  weeks  ago,  and  God  helping  and  giving 
him  strength,  he  was  determined  to  stand  by  the  noble  cause 
of  total  abstinence.  On  his  return  to  Pittsburgh,  he  would 
tell  the  good  news  from  Philadelphia.  He  looked  forward  to 
the  glorious  time  when  the  banner  of  temperance  would  wave 
from  Maine  to  Georgia,  and  from  the  Atlantic  ocean  to  the 
Pacific. 

Captain  Saunders  made  the  following  neat  little  speech  at 
one  of  the  meetings  :  "  I  was  induced  to  join  the  temperance 
society,  the  other  day,  not  because  I  was  a  drunkard,  but 
because  I  was  one  of  the  moderate  drinkers.  Before  another 
glass  of  beer  or  whiskey  passes  down  my  throat,  it  must  be 
when  I  am  dead  ;  but  never  while  I  am  alive.  I  have  seen 
many  a  man  fall  from  aloft  and  overboard  from  the  effects  of 
liquor.  For  the  last  three  days  I  have  not  been  suffering  from 
dyspepsia,  and  I  account  for  it  by  my  abstaining.  When  Mr. 
Murphy  goes  from  us  I  want  this  noble  work  to  go  on.  I 
expect  to  live  fifty  years  longer,  God  willing,  and  then  I  will 


668  THE   LIFE  AND   WOKK   OF 

be  only  as  old  as  my  father  was,  who  died  at  the  good  old  ago 
of  one  hundred  and  four. 

John  Myers  said  he  was  reformed,  and  that  he  felt  stronger 
every  day.  The  day  after  he  took  the  pledge,  a  German 
asked  him  to  take  a  drink  with  him,  but  he  answered  that  he 
drank  nothing  now  but  Murphy  punches.  He  said,  in  Phila- 
delphia there  were  many  men,  and  women  too,  who  sent  their 
children  into  beer  saloons  for  drink,  and  that  this  eventually 
proved  their  ruin. 

Samuel  P.  Godwin  said  in  an  address  at  one  of  the  Murphy 
meetings,  that  while  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Franklin 
Reformatory  Home  were  in  session,  a  young  man,  whom  he 
knew  ten  or  twelve  years  ago  to  be  living  in  opulence,  came  to 
them  saying  he  had  no  home,  no  friends,  no  money,  and  look- 
ing fully  sixty  years  of  age.  Drunkenness  had  brought  him  to 
this  condition.  He  signed  the  pledge  ;  a«d  was  now  working 
his  way  up  in  the  world  again. 

Samuel  McClary  made  a  most  telling  speech,  in  which  he 
said  :  "  I  am  an  ex-convict.  I  am  not  ashamed  to  confess  it 
now  that  I  have  reformed.  My  love  of  liquor  brought  me  to 
jail,  and  completely  wrecked  my  life.  I  could  not  abstain; 
but  now  I  have  signed  Mr.  Murphy's  pledge,  and  I  shall  keep 
it,  God  helping  me  ! " 

David  Warburton,  a  middle-aged  man,  said  he  had  been 
constantly  intoxicated  for  the  last  twenty-five  years,  and  had 
been  reduced  to  so  low  a  grade  of  society  that  he  considered 
himself  a  shame  and  a  disgrace.  He  informed  the  audience 
that  he  was  a  poet  by  nature,  and  proceeded  to  recite  some 
verses,  which  he  had  composed  the  night  previous,  and  which 
he  had  committed  to  memory. 

Mr.  McLean  said  :  "  I  have  been  a  drinking  man  since  my 
fourteenth  year,  and  I  was  a  very  hard  case.  I  am  only  four 
•weeks  old  to-day  ;  but  I  feel  a  great  deal  better  since  I  signed 
the  pledge." 

William  G.  McMullen,  an  attorney  at  law,  said,  before  a 
large  audience  :  "  Mr.  Murphy  asked  me  yesterday,  '  Can  I 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  669 

depend  on  your  word,  brother  ?'  and  I  must  say  I  have  indeed 
kept  my  pledge.  I  hope  that,  with  the  help  of  God,  having 
written  my  name  to  the  pledge,  I  will  remain  true  to  it.  I 
would  say  to  others,  come  and  do  as  I  have  done — come 
straight  forward,  and  then  you  will  have  the  eyes  of  the  people 
upon  you,  and  when  they  meet  you  afterward  they  will  know 
if  you  have  kept  the  pledge." 

Charles  Haigh,  formerly  a  liquor  dealer,  said  he  had  read 
the  report  of  one  of  Francis  .Murphy's  addresses  in  Concert 
Hall  in  the  "  Times,"  and  feeling  convinced,  he  concluded  to 
quit  the  business.  As  long  as  God  spared  his  life  he  would 
lift  his  voice  in  favor  of  temperance,  and  do  all  in  his  power 
to  help  others  to  sign  the  pledge,  and  further  the  cause. 

George  F.  B.  Collins,  attorney  at  law,  said  he  spoke  to  mod- 
erate drinkers  when  he  begged  persons  to  come  forward  and 
sign  the  pledge.  He  said  his  analysis  of  a  glass  of  whisky 
consisted  of  crutches,  scaffolds,  law-suits,  divorces,  imitations 
of  prisons,  assaults,  and  general  degradation.  The  only  way 
to  save  yourself  from  these  is  to  abstain  now  and  forever.  In 
a  glass  of  whisky  or  any  other  intoxicating  drink  he  could  see 
no  faith,  hope  or  charity. 

Brother  Gore  said  he  had  been  a  man  only  two  weeks. 
Previous  to  that  time  he  had  been  worse  than  a  brute  ;  for  a 
brute  would  not  have  drunk  whisky  as  he  had  done.  He  was 
formerly  a  liquor-dealer.  God  had  now  given  him  a  new 
heart,  pure  and  manly,  and  he  was  exceedingly  glad,  and 
meant  to  try  and  retain  it.  „ 

E.  G.  Evans  said  he  was  just  thirteen  days  old.  In  his 
opinion  open  confession  was  good  for  the  soul  ;  and  therefore 
he  would  confess  everything.  Fifteen  months  ago  his  wife 
gave  birth  to  twins.  He  and  she  were  perfectly  delighted 
with  them.  When  they  were  two  weeks  old  he  felt  very 
happy.  The  devil  put  it  into  his  head  to  take  a  walk  one 
afternoon.  He  did  s'o,  got  into  a  saloon,  took  a  drink,  and 
kept  drinking  until  thirteen  days  ago.  He  had  now  signed 


670  THE    LIFE  ATSTD   WOEK   OF 

the  pledge,  and  his  wife  and  twins  were  very  glad  over  it. 
He  meant  to  keep  it. 

Thomas  Falladay,  a  sea-faring  man,  spoke  as  follows  at  a 
Murphy  meeting  :  "I  joined  the  temperance  society  in  1864. 
I  have  seen  the  time  when  I  used  to  lie  down  in  the  ditches  of 
France  and  Italy,  so  drunk  was  I ;  and  if  there  are  any  sailors 
here  to-night,  I  hope  they  will  come  forward  and  sign  the 
pledge.  I  mean  to  keep  the  pledge." 

One  of  Mr.  Murphy's  converts,  on  being  brought  forward 
and  Introduced  by  the  great  temperance  apostle,  said  :  "  I 
was  sick  all  over,  from  top  to  bottom,  from  tooth  to  toe-nail, 
when  I  first  "  quit  ;  "  but  now  I  am  all  right.  I  have  been  a 
bad  man  ;  a  hard  drinker.  I  signed  the  pledge  only  nine  days 
ago.  I  intend  to  keep  it  as  long  as  I  live." 

Joseph  James  addressed  Mr.  Murphy  in  the  following  man- 
ner before  a  large  audience  :  "  Francis  Murphy,  it  is  certainly 
embarrassing  for  me  to  get  up  before  this  vast  audience  ;  but 
I  see  by  the  fire  in  your  eye,  that  you  won't  take  "  no  "  for  an 
answer.  Therefore,  I  wish  to  say,  Francis  Murphy,  that  two 
days  ago,  I  would  have  sold  my  soul  for  a  glass  of  beer  ;  and 
I  wish  to  say,  Francis  Murphy,  that  to-day  I  would  rather  die 
than  touch  it." 

George"  W.  South  worth  confessed  that  he  had  been  a  mod- 
erate drinker.  He  had  often  resolved  to  cease  drinking  ;  but 
his  appetite  was  far  stronger  than  his  mental  promises.  Finally 
he  managed  to  sign  the  Murphy  pledge,  and  was  now  a  better 
and  happier  man. 

J.  C.  Love,  a  gentleman  who  became  identified  with  the 
Murphy  work,  and  who  is  now  working  away  with  a  will  in  it, 
said  to  a  large  meeting  that  his  signature  to  the  pledge  looked 
like  a  Chinaman's  mark,  and  Mr.  Murphy  had  to  hold  him  up 
when  he  spoke.  Slowly  but  surely  strength,  both  of  body  and 
mind,  came  back  to  him.  He  left  his  business  for  six  weeks 
entirely  to  take  care  of  itself,  and  commenced  to  work  for 
the  cause.  He  had  been  one  of  the  worst  drunkards  on  record, 
always  full  and  always  wanting  more  ;  but  now  he  had  con- 


FEANCIS    MUKPHY.  671 

quered  the  terrible  appetite,  and  would  never  be  under  its  in- 
fluence again  as  long  as  he  lived.     The  pledge  saved  him. 

John  Andrews  said  he  was  three  weeks  old.  He  was  born 
at  the  Central  Coffee  House,  where  he  had  given  his  heart  to 
God,  and  had  reformed.  The  desire  for  intoxicants  had  made 
him  very  miserable,  and  had  ruined  his  prospects  in  life  more 
than  once.  Through  Mr.  Murphy's  cheering  words  of  future 
happiness  he  had  seen  his  errors,  and  had  signed  the  pledge. 
Things  looked  clearer  and  brighter  already. 

Thomas  Halliday,  a  sailor,  blessed  God  that  now  he  could 
put  on  a  good  pair  of  trousers  and  a  decent  coat,  and  have 
one  dollar  in  his  pocket.  Signing  the  pledge  and  abstaining 
gave  him  these. 

John  Columny  said  he  had  stood  at  the  bar  fifteen  years 
monopolizing  drinking  altogether.  He  was  now  on  another 
track,  a  sure  and  straight  road  to  happiness  and  prosperity — 
total  abstinence.  He  had  signed,  the  pledge,  and  his  boys 
would  now  have  an  example.  If  the  fathers  patronize  the 
saloons  is  it  to  be  much  wondered  at  that  the  children  come 
home  drunk  ?  Would  to  God  all  fathers  would  sign  the  pledge 
as  he  had  done  ! 

"  I  have  heard,"  said  a  reformed  man  at  one  of  the  Murphy 
meetings,  "  chemists  describe  all  that  they  could  see  in  a  drop 
of  water.  Shall  I  tell  you  what  I  see  in  a  glass  of  whisky  ? 
I  see  a  rip  in  the  coat  way  up  behind  ;  I  see  pants  a  foot  too 
short  for  a  man  ;  I  see  torn  shoes  that  won't  cover  a  man's 
toes  ;  I  see  red  eyes  and  black  eyes,  and  I  see  shin  plasters 
that  won't  pay  for  a  man's  dinner. 

"  There  are  some  men  with  brass  enough  to  make  a  preserv- 
ing kettle,  but  when  a  fellow  like  some  of  these  who've  always 
needed  an  oyster  knife  to  pry  their  mouths  open  will  stand  up 
and  tell  how  they  are  saved  by  the  grace  of  God,  it  makes  a 
corner  in  the  liquor  trade,  I  can  tell  you. 

"  One  reason  why  the  devil  tempts  men  to  drink  is  because 
since  he  was  kicked  out  of  a  better  place  he  wants  company 
where  he  is. 


672  THE  LIFE   AND  WORK  OF 

"  I'm  just  forty-eight  hours  old  and  I  am  too  nervous  to  stand 
up  very  straight,  but  that's  my  first  speech." 

Mr.  Samuel  McLain's  testimony  at  the  Philadelphia  Taber- 
nacle, before  a  large  audience  was  this  :  "  I  am  a  reformed 
man,  and  I  intend  to  remain  that.  I  have  known  times  when 
I  would  actually  sell  the  clothes  I  wore  for  whisky.  I  have 
known  what  it  is  to  be  despised  by  Christian  parents.  I  have 
known  what  it  is  to  be  homeless.  I  have  known  what  it  is  to 
be  in  the  penitentiary.  I  have  signed  the  pledge.  Before 
that  I  had  nothing,  and  now  see  the  change.  I  have  respect- 
able friends  and  comfortable  clothes.  God  be  praised  for  the 
change  in  me.  The  money  brokers  will  no  longer  get  my 
clothes  ;  the  liquor-dealers  my  money,  my  honor,  my  soul." 

John  Carrigan  admitted  with  contrite  heart  at  a  gathering 
in  the  good  old  Quaker  Town  that  he  had  been  a  mere  pro- 
fessional pledge-taker.  His  pledges  lasted  a  day,  and  he  had 
taken  enough  to  fill  an  immense  trunk.  He  was  all  right  now 
— the  light  of  truth  having  lighted  up  the  chambers  of  his 
heart  and  soul,  completely  scaring  from  thence  the  dark,  grim 
shadows  of  sin. 

The  very  first  signers  of  the  pledge  at  the  Temperance 
Tabernacle,  Philadelphia,  were  two  men,  rather  the  worse  for 
liquor.  While  the  inspiring  exercises  were  being  conducted 
they  came  up  to  the  table,  swaying  somewhat  wildly  to  and 
fro.  "I'm  drunk  now,"  said  one  of  them,  managing  in  some 
way  to  write  his  name,  "  but  it's  the  last  time.  I'm  going  to 
sign.  Will  ye  sign  too,  Charley,  me  boy  ?"  "  Yes."  "  Thin 
shake  hands,"  and  they  shook  hands  as  well  as  they  could  in 
their  present  state,  after  which  they  urged  the  ushers  at  the 
table  to  shake  hands  also,  and  witness  their  good  action. 

Mr.  ,T.  A.  South  wick,  a  merchant  of  some  prominence  in 
Philadelphia,  said  before  an  immense  audience  in  the  Taber- 
nacle :  "I  signed  the  pledge  on  Easter  Sunday  night,  and  it 
was  the  gladdest  day  of  the  whole  year  to  me,  and  will  be  that 
forever.  I  gave  my  soul  then  to  Chirst.  I  have  been  a  drink- 
ing man  for  years.  More  than  once  I  have  been  prostrated  by 


FEATTCIS    MUEPHY.  673 

serious  illness  ;  but  recovered  only  to  return  to  drinking.  To 
save  myself  I  joined  a  temperance  society  ;  but  I  could  not 
resist  the  tempter.  I  see  now  why  I  could  not  abstain — I  did 
not  pray  to  Him  to  be  helped.  I  have  signed  the  pledge,  and 
mean  to  keep  it,  by  praying  to  Jesus,  and  by  His  kind  assist- 
ance. 

Dr.  J.  S.  Cram  spoke  as  follows,  at  a  Murphy  meeting  in 
Philadelphia  :  "  I  am  glad  to  be  here.  I  am  attracted  hither 
in  spite  of  myself.  I  heard  Mr.  Murphy  speak  in  Pittsburgh 
six  months  ago,  but  I  did  not  believe  in  him  ;  he  seemed  a 
fanatic  to  me.  I  was  induced  to  append  my  name  to  the 
pledge  in  Concert  Hall  by  my  wife,  who  had  done  so.  Six 
weeks  ago  I  went  to  our  beloved  Savior,  and  now  I  am 
happier  than  I  have  ever  been  in  my  whole  life.  I  thank  Him 
for  that  undertow  of  temperance  which  bore  me  along  until  I 
was  landed  safely  at  His  feet." 

Francis  Murphy  is  a  true  lover  of  nature.  He  is  very  fond 
,  of  flowers,  and  is  partial  to  a  sweet  button-hole  bouquet.  In 
many  instances  these  lovely  children  of  mother  earth  have 
been  the  means  of  saving  men.  At  the  Philadelphia  Taber- 
nacle, one  night  in  May,  a  man  by  the  name  of  McMullan, 
who  had  just  signed  the  pledge,  confessed  that  a  flower  had 
brought  him  to  do  it.  He  had  presented  it  to  Mr.  Murphy, 
who  entreated  him  to  visit  the  Tabernacle  in  the  evening. 
He  promised  to  come.  He  went,  and  saved  himself  from  sin. 

William  J.  Jones,  better  known  as  "  Deacon  Jones,"  had 
been  for  many  years  a  very  successful  representative  of  the 
press.  His  position  in  the  world  of  letters  was  honorable  and 
high  ;  but  a  desire  for  strong  drink  hurled  him  from  it.  He 
became  a  drunkard.  While  reeling  through  the  streets  one 
day,  Mr.  Murphy  came  across  him.  The  great  temperance 
orator  paused,  took  his  fresh  nosegay  frojn  his  button-hole, 
and  pinned  it  on  the  "  Deacon's  "  breast.  When  he  recovered, 
the  flowers  aroused  the  sleeping  conscience,  and  stirred  his 
degenerate  manhood.  That  evening  he  signed  the  pledge, 
and  redeemed  thereby  his  claim  to  the  noble  title  of  man. 
29 


674  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

Mr.  Charles  Wenzell,  the  reformed  sporting  man,  related  a 
curious  incident  that  came  to  his  knowledge.  A  man,  on  his 
return  home,  after  a  "jolly  good  time,"  generally,  wanted 
something  to  eat.  He  discovered  a  bowl  of  milk,  into  which 
a  ball  of  thread  had  dropped,  and  a  bit  of  bread.  He  dis- 
patched the  milk,  thread  and  bread.  The  thread  caught  in 
his  teeth,  and  he  began  to  pull  it  out.  He  became  alarmed  at 
seeing  no  end,  and  called  his  wife.  "  I'm  unraveling  !"  he 
cried,  anxiously.  "  Boys,"  said  Mi-.  Wenzell,  "  we  want  you 
too  to  unravel — unravel  the  chain  of  sin." 

John  L.  Linton  was  one  of  the  noblest  instances  of  faithful- 
ness and  devotion  in  the  Murphy  movement.  He  had  a  com- 
fortable home  on  the  banks  of  the  Delaware,  containing  an 
extensive  wine-cellar.  "It  was  the  wine-cellar  that  caused  the 
loss  of  the  entire  home,  and  the  temporary  ruin  oi  its  builder 
and  owner,"  Mr.  Linton  confessed.  He  embraced  temperance, 
and  did  much  good  in  the  movement ;  and  is  now  working  for 
it  in  Philadelphia  with  considerable  success. 

John  Tennyson  delivered  the  following  address  at  a  Murphy 
meeting  in  the  Tabernacle  : 

"  If  I  were  to  take  the  time  to  tell  you  all  the  benefits  I 
have  received  from  signing  the  pledge,  you  would  have  to 
'  amen  '  me  down  like  Brother  Murphy.  I  am  doing  well, 
better  than  I  ever  did  before.  I  have  been  lifted  from  the 
depths  of  a  life  of  degradation  into  a  better  life.  A  few  weeks 
ago  I  was  discarded  from  a  home  of  luxury  and  ease  to  that 
of  woe  and  want.  Nine  weeks  ago  last  Saturday  night,  I 
entered  Concert  Hall  in  a  semi-intoxicated  condition.  I  took 
a  seat  in  the  remotest  corner  of  the  hall  where  I  might  hide 
my  tattered  garments  from  the  rude  gaze  of  the  people,  and 
you  may  know  how  much  interest  I  felt  in  the  meeting  when 
I  tell  you  I  fell  asleep,  and  was  not  awakened  until  Mr.  Mur- 
phy was  making  his  closing  speech.  The  next  day  at  noon  I 
signed  the  pledge,  and  have  not  since  regretted  that  step. 

"  Soon  after  the  war  I  became  intimately  acquainted  with  a 
young  man,  whose  life  in  this  world  bade  fair  to  lead  him  on 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  675 

to  fortune.  His  was  a  jovial  disposition,  frank  and  open- 
hearted,  and  it  was  his  wont  to  meet  with  convivial  friends 
on  a  set  night  and  make  a  time  of  it.  One  cold  winter  morn- 
ing in  the  year  1868,  after  indulging  more  than  usual,  that 
morning, he  proceeded  to  his  work,  which  consisted  in  putting 
a  tin  roof  upon  a  building.  He  had  been  there  only  a  few 
hours,  when  making  a  mis-step  he  fell  backward  through  the 
skylight,  a  distance  of  forty  feet,  and  was  picked  up  in  a  life- 
less condition.  An  eminent  physician  was  sent  for,  who  said  : 
'  I  cannot  add  tortures  to  his  miseries  ;  he  cannot  live.'  He 
was  taken  to  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  his  relatives  were 
sent  for,  and  the  first  at  his  bedside  was  his  mother.  As  she 
bended  her  slender  form  over  the  bed  of  that  oldest  son,  with 
an  agonized  eye  she  looked  into  the  eyes  of  the  physician, 
saying,  '  Oh,  sir  !  can  he  live  ?  Can  my  boy  live  ?'  She  did 
not  want  him  to  be  sent  to  a  drunkard's  grave.  The  physician 
replied  :  '  We  cannot  tell,  his  life  is  in  a  higher  power  than 
ours.'  All  through  that  dreary  winter  she  carried  him  nour- 
ishment and  consolation.  He  was  removed  to  her  home  only 
to  rise  from  that  bed  a  cripple  for  life.  It  is  unnecessary  for 
me  to  tell  you  that  that  man  and  myself  are  the  same  person. 
I  hate  the  vile  groggery  ;  it  has  robbed  me  of  the  use  of  a 
good  right  arm,  it  has  invaded  our  social  and  family  circles 
and  removed  our  best  friends.  Oh,  men,  arise  and  assert  your 
liberty  by  enrolling  your  name  on  the  roll  of  honor.  Oh,  men! 
why  bow  ye  down  to  images  of  stone  !  Now,  rise  !  be  free  ! 
trust  in  the  God  above,  for  with  him  is  mercy  and  goodness. 
Come  forward,  then,  to-night,  and  sign  the  pledge.  Take  the 
advice  of  one  who  has  known  the  miseries  which  result  from 
the  use  of  intoxicating  drink,  and  who  is  now  free  from  it  and 
enjoying  a  life  of  temperance." 

The  following  words  were  uttered  by  Mr.  Frank  Burns,  oi 
Pittsburgh,  at  the  Murphy  Tabernacle,  in  Philadelphia: 

"  I  am  amazed  at  the  immense  size  of  this  building,  which  I 
expected  so  little  to  see.  I  came  here  to-day  to  see  Mr. 
Murphy,  because  I  have  been  so  weary  with  the  work  in  Pitts- 


676  THE  LIFE   AND   WOKK   OF 

burg  that  I  wished  a  little  rest ;  and,  I  thought  I  would  get  a 
little  rest  by  coming  to  see  him,  as  he  has  been  a  friend  to  me. 
As  I  was  sitting  here  to-night  my  thoughts  went  back  to  a  little 
over  five  years  ago,  when  I  was  in  your  city,  about  to  leave  it 
for  Pittsburgh,  accompanying  my  father's  body  home.  He 
died,  while  on  a  visit  here,  of  pneumonia,  after  five  days'  ill- 
ness. I  was  at  that  time  attending  Jefferson  Medical  College. 
When  he  died  I  became  heir  to  a  fortune  of  over  $80,000.  As 
I  was  his  only  child,  and  as  my  mother  had  died  four  years 
previously,  I  did  not  have  the  right  people  to  counsel  me.  I 
spent  a  portion  of  my  time  in  this  city.  I  then  went  into  the 
liquor  business  in  New  York.  I  next  went  down  to  Pittsburgh 
and  got  married,  and  made  a  wedding  tour  to  Europe,  through 
Ireland  and  England.  I  assure  you  Irish  whisky  did  not  im- 
prove matters  with  me.  I  returned,  and,  to  make  a  long  story 
short,  I  gradually  went  on  till  I  got  from  the  top  of  the  ladder 
to  the  foot  almost.  Thank  God,  to-night  I  am  saved  ;  but  I 
might  have  been  saved  sooner.  About  four  months  ago  I  had 
a  drinking  spree  of  about  five  days.  I  had  not  heard  of  Mr. 
Murphy  being  in  Pittsburgh,  but  one  morning  I  met  brother 
David  Hall,  who  asked  me  to  come  and  hear  Murphy.  I  said: 
'  All  right.'  I  didn't  know  where  Murphy  was.  I  thought  it 
was  some  new  saloon.  I  said  :  '  Yes,  I  would  as  soon  drink 
Murphy's  whisky  as  anybody  else's.'  So  he  took  me  up  to 
the  University  and  we  saw  Murphy.  It  was  not  the  Murphy 
I  expected  to  see.  I  signed  the  pledge.  I  have  been  saved 
through  the  instrumentality  of  Mr.  Murphy,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  from  a  drunkard's  grave.  I  did  not  come  here  to  praise 
him.  But  I  know  the  good  he  has  done  me,  and  I  know  what 
he  has  done  for  Pittsburgh." 

Mr.  John  H.  Love,  of  Philadelphia,  said  before  a  great 
Tabernacle  meeting  : 

"  At  the  age  of  sixteen  I  had  an  iron  constitution.  For 
(twenty-five  years  I  was  a  moderate  drinker.  I  could  start  on 
fire  glasses  and  keep  on  drinking  and  still  remain  pretty  sober. 
The  habit  was  increasing  upon  me  year  after  year,  and  my 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  677 

ay  petite  for  drink  got  stronger  and  stronger,  so  that  I  could 
not  do  without  it.  The  accursed  stuff  was  dragging  me  down 
into  the  lowest  depths,  and  poisoning  me.  I  had  power  over 
everything  but  that.  Whisky  had  the  mastery  over  me. 
Now,  thank  God,  since  I  have  signed  the  pledge,  I  am  master  ; 
and,  by  the  help  of  God,  I  will  be  master.  It  is  something 
noble  for  you,  young  men,  to  throw  the  cursed  shackles  from 
off  your  feet.  There  is  not  a  man  living  but  can  stop  drinking 
and  be  a  man.  This  country  is  large.  There  is  not  a  man 
in  the  country,  or  city,  but  what  there  is  employment  for,  if 
he  will  go  about  it  in  the  right  way.  Some  say  :  '  There  is  no 
use  in  my  signing  it,  I  cannot  keep  it.'  Whenever  the  tempta- 
tion comes  to  you,  even  if  you  have  the  whisky  poured  out, 
get  on  your  knees  first,  and  I  will  guarantee  that  the  whisky 
is  thrown  on  the  floor,  and  you  will  go  off  feeling  a  better 
man.  I  have  had  trials,  but  I  can  look  back  and  say  I  ani 
master  now." 

The  two  following  incidents  were  given  by  Mr.  Murphy 
himself  with  great  power  and  applause  in  his  talks  at  the 
Tabernacle  : 

"  I  was  speaking  upon  the  subject  of  temperance  in  New 
Brighton,  Connecticut.  After  I  got  through,  a  lady  came 
upon  the  platform,  and  taking  me  to  one  side,  said  :  '  I  wish 
you  would  please  come  to  my  home.'  Well,  I  was  delighted  to 
hear  the  sweet,  musical  voice  of  my  countrywoman,  and  I  went 
home  with  her  and  her  beautiful  daughter  Mary.  She  said, 
before  we  reached  home,  '  I  wish  you  could  see  James,  my 
husband.' 

"  He  had  bought  property  in  New  Brighton  and  it  had  since 
increased  very  rapidly  in  value  ;  it  had  cost  only  two  thousand 
dollars  and  it  was  now  worth  forty  thousand.  He  was  a 
moulder  by  trade,  and  came  into  wealth,  and,  being  possessed 
of  true  Irish  hospitality,  he  was  always  ready  with  a  drop  of 
the  creature.  Having  arrived  at  his  house,  his  wife  called  to 
h.m,  'Come  down,  James  O'Connor.'  James  came  down,  and 
I  said  :  '  How  are  you  ?'  He  looked  kindly  into  my  face  and 


G78  THE  LIFE  AND   WOKK   OF 

said,  'I  am  all  right.'  I  said,  'James,  I  am  afraid  you  are 
all  wrong.'  'Nevermind,'  said  he,  'just  take  a  drop.'  So  he 
went  to  the  pantry  and  brought  out  his  bottle  in  grand  style, 
'  and  now,'  said  he,  '  give  us  a  little  boiling  water  and  some 
sugar.'  '  If  you  please,'  said  I,  *  I  cannot  touch  it.'  '  Ah,' 
said  he,  '  you're  the  temperance  man  ?'  '  Yes,'  said  I.  We 
then  talked  and  reasoned  together.  During  this  time,  I 
noticed  a  little  mark  over  the  forehead  of  the  mother,  and  she 
had  a  welt  of  her  hair  brought  down  to  cover  it.  I  said  : 
'  Mrs.  O'Connor,  what  happened  to  your  face  ?'  She  said, 
'Don't  say  anything  about  that.'  A  countryman  of  mine  sold 
her  husband  liquor ;  there  he  spent  his  nights  ;  and  that  was 
the  origin  of  the  mark.  I  said  to  her  :  '  Will  you  tell  me 
where  this  countryman  lives  ?'  She  told  me,  and  I  spoke  to 
him  about  it.  He  was  a  true  Irishman,  and  he  loved  the 
family,  and  he  said  :  '  If  it  has  made  James  O'Connor  put  that 
mark  on  his  wife,  never  shall  I  again  sell  a  drop  of  intoxicating 
liquor.'  And  he  never  did,  and  he  has  made  a  respectable 
living  since  he  quit  selling  it. 

"  A  dear  countryman  came  to  America  in  search  of  a  f 01 
tune.     He  had  a  beautiful  family,  and  was  a  stone  mason  by 
trade.     He  had  brothers  in  the  city  of  Portland  who  repre- 
sented a  large  amount  of  wealth,  and  he  thought  he  would  go 
into  the  liquor  traffic. 

"  My  brother  engaged  in  the  business.  He  had  a  beautiful 
son  whom  he  took  in  the  business  with  him  ;  and  he  had  two 
beautiful  girls.  He  commenced  in  the  liquor  traffic  and  he 
made  a  large  amount  of  money.  When  his  son  was  twenty 
years  of  age  he  had  twenty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  prop- 
erty. His  son  drank  constantly  and  kept  on  drinking.  Fin- 
ally, at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  this  boy,  this  darling  of  his  life, 
was  taken  with  the  delirium  tremens  and  died  ;  his  father  was 
at  his  side.  His  dear  mother,  who  had  been  so  proud  of  him, 
worried  and  walked  up  and  down  her  home  until  she  sickened 
and  died  from  a  broken  heart.  I  was  personally  acquainted 
with  the  father.  I  knew  him  to  be  a  genuine,  noble-hearted 


FRANCIS    MUEPHY.  679 

Christian  man.  But  he  commenced  to  drink,  and  to  such  an 
excesH  that  his  own  1  wo  brothers  had  him  arrested  and  carried 
to  the  county  jail. 

"  While  he  was  incarcerated  I  made  it  my  duty  to  visit  him. 
I  wish  I  had  the  power  of  a  Dickens  to  describe  the  man.  He 
was  in  one  of  those  little  dark  cells,  and  had  nothing  on  him 
but  his  pantaloons,  his  hair  was  standing  up  on  his  head,  his 
hands  and  fingers  looked  like  the  claws  of  an  eagle,  they  were 
so  spare  and  thin.  When  he  saw  me  he  came  to  the  door,  and 
in  his  sweet,  loving  way  he  said,  '  Ah,  Mr.  Murphy,  that's  you.' 
And  the  tears  ran  down  his  cheeks  as  he  spoke  of  his  darling 
boy.  Poor  Willie  died,  whipped  into  eternity  with  the  scor- 
pions chasing  him,  whilst  his  father  held  him. 

"  His  sister  was  one  of  the  finest  girls  in  Portland,  and  she, 
poor  Mary,  took  to  drink,  and  died  from  the  effects  of  intoxi- 
cating liquor.  I  have  attended  the  funerals  of  the  father, 
mother,  son  and  daughter  ;  and  I  saw  them  placed  side  by 
side  in  the  grave-yard. 

"  There  is  no  marble  slab,  to-day,  to  tell  of  the  last  resting 
place  of  this  mother  and  her  children,  but  if  the  truth  could  be 
written  over  their  graves,  it  would  be  said, '  Rum  killed  them.'  " 

The  following  clipping  from  the  Philadelphia  Daily  Ex- 
press, proving  the  unselfishness  and  extensiveness  of  Francis 
Murphy's  work,  will  be  perused  with  interest  : 

"  Midnight  witnessed  an  impressive  scene.  Frank  Murphy, 
escorted  by  Sergeant  Pearson  and  a  couple  of  police  officers, 
and  accompanied  by  a  full  delegation  of  newspaper  men,  was 
standing  in  the  garret  of  the  tenement  house  on  Ramcat  alley 
and  St.  Mary  street.  Lying  on  the  floor  (some  in  a  nude  con- 
dition) and  standing  around  him  were  colored  and  white  women. 
Some  of  the  latter  hid  their  faces  in  their  hands,  while  others 
welcomed  the  visitors. 

" '  I  am  married,  and  my  name  is  Mrs.  Annie  Howard,'  said 
a  fair-haired  woman,  with  a  soft  voice.  '  I  have  seen  better 
days,  and  I  still  trust  in  the  Almighty.  I  love  my  husband, 
and  he  is  good  to  me.' 


680  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

"  Some  of  the  rooms  were  even  wretched,  and  the  inmates 
sullen  and  constrained,  while  in  others  Mr.  Murphy  was  gi-eeted 
with  great  cordiality. 

"The  'bosses'  of  the  rooms  paid  a  rental  of  $4.50  to  $7  per 
month.  They  sub-let  them  to  several  families.  Some  were 
occupied  by  eight  or  ten  persons.  The  atmosphere  was  so 
close  and  foetid  that  several  of  the  visitors  were  forced  to  seek 
the  fresh  air  of  the  street. 

"  '  These  properties  are  owned  by  a  wealthy  retired  Market 
street  merchant,'  said  the  sergeant.  '  He  is  now  in  Europe 
living  on  the  proceeds.  The  agent  is  a  Mr.  Dunlap,  and  the 
rental  of  the  buildings  amounts  to  $2,100  a  year.' 

"  In  one  of  the  rooms  Mr.  Murphy  was  most  cordially  re- 
ceived by  two  fine-looking  black  men,  both  of  whom  had 
signed  the  pledge.  One  of  them  (John  Folk)  was  a  banjo 
player.  He  had  lamed  his  foot  in  the  army. 

"  '  Are  you  married  to  Ellen  ?'  asked  Mr.  Murphy,  pointing 
to  a  woman  who  was  lying  on  the  floor  with  her  face  closely 
covered  up. 

"  '  Well,  I'm  married  in  a  certain  way  ;  I  ain't  in  the  regular 
way,  because  I  ain't  got  the  money  to  pay  for  a  minister. 
It's  all  I  can  do  to  raise  money  enough  to  eat ;  and  I  give  folks 
I  know  a  rest  here  in  the  room  rather  than  let  them  stay  on 
the  streets.  They  can't  pay,  because  they've  got  nothing.' 

"  '  Well,  will  you  marry  her  if  I  pay  the  minister  ?' 

"  '  Oh,  yes,'  he  cried,  candidly.  '  That  is  if  she  says  so  ;  I 
love  her  well  enough.' 

" «  Will  you  consent,  Ellen  ?' 

"  '  Yes,  I'd  like  to  very  much,'  she  replied,  as  she  threw  the  bed 
clothes  off  her  face,  and  accepted  Mr.  Murphy's  extended  hand. 

" '  Then,  come  up  to  the  Annex  building  on  next  Sunday 
morning  and  we'll  have  a  marriage  ;  I'll  pay  the  minister,' 
said  Mr.  Murphy. 

"  John  took  down  his  banjo  and  played  '  Down  the  Swanee 
River,'  while  Mr.  Murphy's  son,  who  accompanied  him,  passed 
around  the  hat  and  a  dollar  was  collected  for  the  player. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  681 

"  This  put  John  in  great  glee,  and  he  sang  '  Yaller  Girl 
Picking  Cotton.' 

"  It  was  almost  loo  late  an  hour  for  the  visit,  but  Mr. 
Murphy  had  been  detained  from  starting  out  at  half-past  ten 
o'clock,  as  had  been  arranged.  Many  of  the  barrel  houses 
were  closed,  but  Mr.  Murphy  visited  those  that  were  open, 
and  was  everywhere  received  with  respect.  Many  said  they 
had  heard  him  speak,  and  all  appeared  to  have  a  cordial  wel- 
come for  him. 

"  The  reporter  left  them  still  climbing  the  rickety  stairs  at 
one  o'clock  this  morning.  It  was  surprising  to  see  so  few 
drunken  persons. 

"  *  I  guess  they  must  have  known  Murphy  was  coming,  and 
kept  on  their  good  behavior,'  observed  an  officer. 

"  '  How  can  a  man  stand  over  a  range  all 'day  without  taking 
a  drop  of  porter  now  and  then?'  asked  one  respectable  colored 
man  who  had  been  a  sailor. 

"'Take  coffee  instead,'  replied  Mr.  Murphy.  'Its  like  a 
steamboat.  If  you  pile  on  grease  and  oil  you  will  kindle  a 
hot  fire,  but  it  soon  wants  replenishing  ;  but  put  in  good  coal 
and  you  have  a  solid  fire.  So  it  is  with  coffee  and  bread.  It's 
substantial,  while  the  porter  and  gin  give  nourishment  for 
only  a  time.' 

" '  Dat's  cle  God's  truf,'  exclaimed  John  Green,  the  ex- 
sailor  ;  '  I  guess  I'll  have  to  try  it.  Anyhow  I'll  be  up  to 
your  Sunday  breakfast,  Mr.  Murphy.'  " 

A  visit  to  some  of  the  fire  houses  in  Philadelphia  led  Mr. 
Murphy  to  a  new  idea.  "  Why  does  such  a  man  as  you  drink  ?" 
lie  asked  of  a  large,  well-built  man,  whose  face  bore  indica- 
tions of  dissipation. 

"  Well,  you  see,"  answered  the  man,  "  we  must  have  some 
stimulant  when  we  are  soaking  wet  at  a  fire,  after  being  up  all 
night,  and  that  keeps  up  the  appetite." 

"  Wouldn't  a  good  cup  of  coffee  and  a  sandwich  do  as  well, 
if  not  much  better  ?" 

"  Yes,"  laughingly  answered  all  the  hands  ;  "but  howin  the 


682  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

world  are  we  to  get  the  coffee  and  sandwiches  at  midnight  or 
daybreak,  when  buildings  are  threatened  on  all  sides  ?" 

"  You  should  be  served  by  the  authorities.  Come  up  to  the 
meetings  and  sign  the  pledge  in  a  body  and  I  will  endeavor  to 
create  an  interest  in  the  public  mind  so  that  you  will  be  sup- 
plied with  a  good  cup  of  coffee  and  plenty  of  sandwiches,  as 
you  are  holding  the  pipe  or  passing  on  the  water." 

"  Go  ahead,"  was  the  hearty,  unanimous  reply,  "  We  are 
with  you." 

The  following  testimonies  by  reformed  men  will  be  read 
with  much  interest : 

"  Three  weeks  ago,  my  friends,  I  had  on  my  hands  a  hotel 
and  a  bar,  and  over  my  counter  death  and  damnation  was  pass- 
ing to  my  fellow  creatures  as  fast  as  they  could  drink  it  or  find 
the  money  to  pay  for  it.  I  drank  myself,  I  smoked,  I  chewed, 
I  gambled.  I  was  a  servant  of  sin  in  every  form.  To-day  I 
stand  free  in  Christ,  with  my  time,  my  money,  and  my  life 
fully  and  forever  given  to  God,  and  to  God's  work  of  saving 
men.  I  wouldn't  give  a  day  of  this  existence  for  a  lifetime  of 
the  old  life.  I  wouldn't  change  the  joy  of  helping  one  poor 
soul  out  of  the  mire  for  all  the  world  could  offer." 

"  I  had  fallen  so  low  that  I  hadn't  left  an  unpawned  chair  to 
sit  on,  or  a  bed  to  lie  on.  I  wouldn't  wait  in  the  morning  to 

'  O 

go  for  my  early  drink  until  I  had  my  shoes  on,  but  would  rush 
out  bare-footed  ;  and,  of  course,  it  did  not  take  long  to  bring 
me  to  a  place  where  I  had  no  shoes  to  put  on.  I  became  so 
ragged  and  debased  that  I  skulked  sidewise  into  my  own  door. 
I  had  one  only  feeling  that  was  not  utterly  degraded.  I  did 
love  my  child,  a  beautiful  and  loving  little  boy.  With  this 
child  in  my  arms  I  was  another  creature,  and  often  I  held  him 
tight,  and  whispered  to  him  that  I  would  be  a  better  man. 
Yet  when  this  boy  sickened  before  my  eyes,  I  got  drunk  ;  when 
this  boy  died,  I  was  drunk  ;  when  my  boy  was  buried,  I  was 
lying  in  the  Tombs,  drunk.  I  served  the  devil  fifteen  years, 
for  I  began  when  a  youth  of  eighteen,  and  all  that  precious 
time  is  lost  out  of  my  life.  Only  God  could  have  helped  me ; 


FRANCIS    MUEPHY.  683 

only  God  can  keep  one  ;  but  he  does  keep  me,  and  I  have  faith 
to  believe  He  will." 

"  I  do  not  know  to  this  day  what  was  said,  but  I  was  suffi- 
ciently impressed  to  desire,  when  the  invitation  was  given,  to 
go  into  the  inquiry  room.  But  I  was  ashamed  to  go  before  my 
compaiiion,  and  I  have  since  known  that  he  wanted  me  to  go, 
but  was  ashamed  to  go  before  me.  I  said  to  him,  when  the 
offer  was  repeated,  *  Are  you  going  ?'  and  he  said,  '  No  ;  are 
you '?'  and  I  said,  '  No.'  So  we  went  out  together,  and  he  told 
me  he  was  going  home  to  his  babies,  and  I  thought  I  would  go 
and  get  a  drink.  At  this  saloon  something  stopped  me,  and  I 
did  not  drink  :  I  only  said,  '  Give  me  a  cigar,'  and  with  this  I 
strolled  back  in  the  direction  of  the  meeting.  I  passed  a 
church  in  which  overflowing  prayer-meetings  were  being  held, 
and  I  peeped  in.  They  were  just  asking  those  who  wanted  to 
be  helped  to  rise  for  prayer.  I  meant  to  go  in,  and  had  started, 
when,  whom  should  I  see  rising  with  the  rest,  but  my  friend 
who  had  told  me  he  was  going  home  to  see  his  babies.  When 
I  saw  him  I  wouldn't  go  in.  When  he  saw  me  he  wouldn't 
rise,  but  deliberately  pulled  off  his  overcoat  and  sat  down  as  if 
he  had  found  the  place  too  hot  for  him.  Ah  !  so  he  had,  it 
was  too  hot  for  him,  and  too  hot  for  me.  I  went  home,  but  I 
drank  no  more  that  night.  When  the  next  evening  came,  I 
went  again  to  the  meeting,  and  this  time  I  took  care  to  go 
alone.  This  time,  when  invited  to  go  into  the  inquiry  room  I 
went,  and  when  there,  found  my  help  lay  in  Christ,  and  I  gave 
my  heart  to  Him.  Then  began  my  trial,  for  I  was  afraid  of 
my  companions  and  my  fellow-workmen.  There  were  several 
hundreds  of  them,  and  only  about  twenty-five  Christians  ;  but 
when  they  saw  what  a  new  and  happy  man  religion  made  of 
me,  many  of  them  were  persuaded,  and  now  we  have  over  a 
hundred  men  who  have  turned  from  their  ways  of  drunkenness 
and  sin,  and  are  living  noble  Christian  lives." 

Samuel  P.  Godwin  delivered  the  following  telling  remarks 
to  an  immense  audience  in  the  Tabernacle  on  April  6,  1877, 
amid  great  applause  :  "  I  could  say  a  great  many  words  when 


684  THE   LIFE    AND   WORK   OF 

I  beheld  a  man  on  my  left  band,  who  has  been  the  subject  of 
rny  prayers  for  the  last  twelve  months,  giving  testimony  in 
behalf  of  this  great  work.  If  Brother  Murphy  had  accom- 
plished no  other  .good  in  the  "hands  of  the  Lord  but  the  turning 
of  this  one  young  man  to  Christ,  he  would  have  done  more 
than  you  or  I  have  done  in  a  lifetime.  It  is  nothing  for  you 
and  I  to  stand  up  in  behalf  of  total  abstinence,  but  it  is  some- 
thing for  these  dear  souls  that  have  dared  to  do  right  and  to 
conquer.  I  feel  like  bowing  down  in  reverence  at  the  feet  of 
men  who  have  dared  to  come  boldly  and  sign  the  pledge  and 
keep  it  through  the  grace  of  God,  and  we  ought  to  do  all  we 
can  to  advance  the  interest  of  such  men.  Let  us  do  all  we 
can  to  replace  them  in  their  position  in  society  and  the  family 
circle,  and  lift  them  up  to  true  manhood." 

The  success  of  the  Murphy  movement  in  Philadelphia  was 
furthered  by  the  cheap  coffee-houses  which  had  been  estab- 
lished some  years  before.  The  cure  of  the  drunkard  is  always 
attended  with  great  difficulties,  for  every  temptation  must  be 
removed,  while  he  is  as  yet  convalescing  from  the  terrible 
disease.  Liquor  saloons  to  enhance  their  attractions  have 
been  in  the  habit  of  spreading  a  free  lunch  for  the  purchaser 
of  their  liquid  poison,  and  the  hungry  man  is  thus  tempted  to 
do  that  which  tends  to  his  eternal  ruin  by  all  the  subtile  arts 
of  appeal  t<3  his  necessities.  So  much  has  this  become  the 
case  throughout  the  land  that  thous-ands  have  been  drawn  into 
the  coil,  who  otherwise  might  have  remained  honored  and 
respectable  citizens.  When  to  this  fact  is  added  the  equally 
dangerous  one  that  every  reputable  restaurant,  except  such  as 
are  conducted  on  purely  temperance  principles,  has  a  bar  in 
connection  with  its  other  business,  we  commence  to  realize 
how  insidious  and  well  masked  are  the  snares  set  for  the  care- 
less and  unwary.  The  system  set  on  foot  in  Philadelphia 
gave  the  working  man  a  good  lunch,  or  a  morning  or  evening 
meal  for  five  or  ten  cents,  as  the  case  might  be,  and  instead  of 
the  deadly  drain  of  the  so-called  "  free  lunch,"  he  got  a  large 
bowl  of  excellent  coffee,  with  rich  cream  and  sugar.  The 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  685 

remarkable  success  of  this  enterprise  merits  a  few  words 
descriptive  of  its  inception  and  progress.  We  cannot  do 
better  than  to  quote  the  clear  and  compact  account  of  a 
well  known  temperance  writer,  who  was  familiar  with  all  the 
facts  of  the  matter:  "In  the  fall  of  1874  Joshua  L.  Bailey, 
one  of  our  most  active,  clear-headed  merchants,  who  had  been 
for  many  years  an  earnest  temperance  man,  determined  to 
give  the  cheap  coffee-house  experiment  a  fair  trial,  cost  what 
it  might ;  for  he  saw  that  if  it  could  be  made  successful,  it 
would  be  a  powerful  agency  in  the  work  of  prevention.  He 
began  in  a  small  way,  taking  a  modest  store  at  the  corner  of 
Market  and  Fifteenth  streets.,  and  fitting  it  up  in  a  neat  and 
attractive  manner.  With  a  few  pounds  of  coffee  and  a  few 
dozens  of  rolls,  the  place  was  opened,  the  single  attendant,  a 
woman,  acting  the  double  part  of  cook  and  waiter.  For  five 
cents  a  pint  mug  of  the  best  Java  coffee,  with  milk  and  sugar, 
and  a  good-sized  roll,  were  furnished. 

"  From  the  very  start  '  The  Workingmen's  Central  Coffee- 
House,'  as  Mr.  Bailey  called  it,  was  successful.  In  the  imme- 
diate neighborhood  five  hundred  workmen  were  employed  on 
the  city  buildings,  and  opposite  stood  the  Pennsylvania  Rail- 
road freight  depot,  to  which  came  daily  about  the  same  num- 
ber of  men — draymen,  teamsters  and  others.  It  took  but  a 
few  days  to  so  crowd  the  new  coffee-room  at  the  usual  lunching 
time  as  to  require  an  additional  assistant.  From  day  to  day 
the  business  went  on  increasing,  until  more  help  and  larger 
accommodations  became  necessary.  Soon  a  complete  kitchen 
had  to  built  in  the  basement,  and  the  adjoining  store  added, 
in  order  to  meet  the  steadily-enlarging  demands  upon  the  new 
establishment.  The  fame  of  the  good  coffee,  which  was  bet- 
ter than  most  people  found  at  home,  spread  far  and  near,  and 
larger  and  larger  numbers  of  clerks,  workingmen  and  others, 
turned  their  steps  daily,  at  lunch  time,  towards  the  Central 
Coffee-House.  Jt  was  so  much  better  than  the  poor  stuff 
served  in  most  of  the  eating-houses  ;  and,  with  the  sweet  roll 
added,  so  much  better  than  the  free  lunch  and  glass  of  beer  or 


686  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 

whisky  with  which  too  many  had  been  accustomed  to  regale 
themselves. 

"  Steadily  swelled  the  tide  of  custom.  Within  a  year  a  third 
store  adjoining  was  added.  But  the  enlarged  premises  soon 
proved  inadequate  to  the  accommodation  of  the  still-increasing 
crowd. 

"  At  this  writing  '  The  Central '  is  from  six.  to  seven  times 
larger  than  when  first  opened  ;  and  there  lunch  in  its  rooms, 
daily,  nearly  two  thousand  persons.  One  -room  has  been  fitted 
up  for  ladies  exclusively,  in  which  from  forty  to  fifty  can 
lunch  at  one  time. 

"  But  Mr.  Bailey  looked  beyortd  the  cheap  coffee  and  rolls  by 
which  he  was  able  to  keep,  so  many  away  from  bar-rooms  and 
restaurants  where  liquor  was  sold.  He  believed  in  other  influ- 
ences and  safeguards.  And  to  this  end,  and  at  his  own  cost, 
he  fitted  up  the  various  rooms  over  the  seven  stores  extend- 
ing along  Market  street  from  Fifteenth  to  Broad,  in  which  the 
coffee-rooms  are  located,  and  set  them  apart  for  various  uses. 
Here  is  a  lecture-hall,  capable  of  seating  four  hundred  persons  ; 
a  free  reading-room,  well  warmed  and  lighted  and  supplied 
with  the  best  daily  newspapers,  American  and  English  illus- 
trated publications,  and  the  standard  periodicals  ;  besides  four 
other  rooms  that  will  hold  from  seventy  to  one  hundred  per- 
sons, which  are  used  for  various  meeting  purposes,  all  in  con- 
nection with  temperance.  Five  regular  services  are  held  in 
the  lecture-room  every  week,  viz.  :  '  Bible  Reading,'  on  Sun- 
day afternoon  ;  '  Temperance  Experience  Meeting,'  on  Lien- 
day  evening  ;  '  Prayer  and  Praise  Meeting,'  Tuesday  evening  ; 
'  Gospel  Temperance  Meeting,'  on  Thursday  evening  ;  and 
*  Youths'  Temperance  Meeting,'  Friday  evening.  These  meet- 
ings are  often  crowded,  and,  like  the  coffee-rooms  below, 
attract  audiences  made  up  from  every  rank  in  society.  At 
many  of  these  meetings,  Mr.  Bailey  presides  in  person. 

"  Encouraged  by  the  success  of  this  first  effort,  Mr.  Bailey 
opened  another  cheap  coffee-house  in  the  very  centre  of  the 
wholesale  trade  of  the  city,  where  thousands  of  clerks,  work- 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  687 

ingmen  and  merchants  were  in  the  habit  of  resorting  for  lunch 
or  dinner  to  the  restaurants  and  bar-rooms  in  the  neighborhood. 
This,  located  at  No.  31  South  Fourth  street,  he  called  'The 
Model  Coffee-House.' 

"  From  the  first  it  was  crowded  even  to  an  uncomfortable 
sxtent.  The  demands  of  its  patrons  soon  rendered  larger 
quarters  a  necessity.  A  new  building  was  erected  specially 
adapted  to  the  purpose,  many  novel  features  being  introduced 
which  a  twelve  months'  experience  had  suggested. 

"The  new  'Model'  opened  June  1,  1876.  Many  persons 
thought  it  was  too  large,  and  that  it  would  never  be  filled. 
But  it  was  thronged  on  the  day  of  opening,  and  on  every  day 
since  the  demands  upon  it  have  been  fully  up  to  its  capacity. 
The  number  lunching  here  daily  is  about  three  thousand. 

"  In.  the  establishment  of  the  coffee-houses  there  were,  of 
course,  many  mistakes,  the  results  of  inexperience.  Many 
things  had  to  be  unlearned  as  well  as  many  learned.  But  mis- 
takes were  promptly  corrected.  With  the  growth  of  the 
work,  ability  to  provide  for  it  seemed  to  keep  pace,  and  modi- 
fications in  the  management  were  adopted  as  necessity  dic- 
tated. Not  much  was  anticipated  at  the  commencement  be- 
yond furnishing  a  mug  of  coffee  and  a  roll  of  bread,  but  it 
soon  became  apparent  that  something  more  than  this  was 
needed.  To  meet  this  necessity,  the  coffee-house  bill  of  fare 
was  greatly  extended,  and  now  quite  a  variety  of  nutritious 
and  substantial  dishes  are  provided,  and  each  at  the  uniform 
price  of  jive  cents.  The  main  feature — the  coffee — is,  how- 
ever, preserved.  A  full  pint  mug  of  the  best  Java  (equal  to 
two  ordinary  cups)  with  pure,  rich  milk  and  white  sugar,  and 
two  ounces  of  either  wheat  or  brown  bread,  all  for  jive  cents, 
is  the  every-day  lunch  of  many  a  man  who,  but  for  this  pro- 
visions, would  be  found  in  the  dram  shop. 

"  No  dish,  as  we  have  said,  costs  over  five  cents,  which  is 
the  standard  price  the  year  round,  whatever  the  fluctuations 
of  markets  may  be.  In  addition  to  the  bread  and  coffee 
already  mentioned  for  five  cents,  the  bill  of  fare  comprises 


688  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

puddings  of  rice,  tapioca  and  corn  starch,  baked  apples 
dressed  with  sugar  and  milk,  ail  sorts  of  pies  (half  a  pie  being 
given  for  a  portion),  mushes  of  cracked  wheat,  corn  and  oat- 
meal, dumplings,  eggs,  potatoes,  beans,  ham,  corned  beef, 
liver,  'scrapple,'  sausage,  custards,  soups,  pickles,  and  in  sea- 
son, fresh  fruits.  Of  bread,  there  are  Boston  and  Philadel- 
phia brown,  wheat,  Philadelphia  and  Vienna  rolls.  A  pint 
glass  of  milk  with  a  roll  costs  five  cents  ;  butter  three  cents, 
and  extra  rolls  one  cent  each  ;  so  that  for  ten  or  fifteen  cents 
a  man  gets  a  full  luncheon,  as  every  portion  of  food  is  equal  to 
a  large  saucer  heaped. 

"These  establishments  require,  of  course,  the  most  methodi- 
cal, orderly  and  careful  management,  with  capable  matrons  at 
the  head  of  each,  and  a  steward  or  superintendent  to  make 
intelligent  purchases.  At  the  '  Model  Coffee-House,'  there  are 
nearly  fifty  employees,  and,  excepting  three  or  four  men,  they 
are  girls  and  women.  The  upper  rooms  of  the  building  are 
for  the  lodgings,  offices,  laundry  and  drawing-room,  for  the 
use  of  the  employees.  The  girls,  who  are  mostly  of  country 
birth  and  training,  are  thus  furnished  with  a  good  and  safe 
home,  where  they  have  books  and  music,  large  and  well-fur- 
nished chambers,  a  good  table — they  dine  at  one  family  table 
in  their  own  dining-room — and  have  their  washing  and  ironing 
done  in  the  house.  They  are  required  to  be  neat  and  tidy  in 
appearance,  respectable  and  discreet  in  character  and  manner." 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  further  extension  of  this 
cheap  coffee-house  system,  under  the  special  patronage  of  the 
ladies  of  Philadelphia,  when  the  Murphy  enthusiasm  stirred 
society  to  its  bottom  depths.  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmeyer,  and 
other  good  Samaritans  among  her  noble-hearted  sex,  labored 
assiduously  in  this  direction,  and  no  one,  outside  of  those  who 
wratched  all  the  tides  and  currents  of  influence  that  were  work- 
ing under  the  promptings  of  God's  spirit,  can  fully  appreciate 
the  immense  help  ;hat  Francis  Murphy  got  through  this 
agency.  He,  himself,  has  been  free  to  acknowledge  it  in 
glowing  terms,  as  indeed  this  man  has  ever,  in  the  words  of 


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',.  the  meetings 
e  storm  of  ex- 
Many  of  his 
rked  with  him, 
great  temper- 
elds  of  labor, 
in  Pittsburgh 
result  of  the 
orious  harvest 
irse,  it  is  diffi- 
s  of  a  mighty 
cimate  to  the 
ber  of  drunk- 
which  may  be 
oents  at  Pitts- 
fruits  of  the 
y  be  set  down 

mes  started  a 
/ 

ung  or  appar- 
ip  of  feeling, 
ready  for  the 
ery  well,  and 
ificant  causes, 
e  worst  towns 
there  in  a  day 

then  in  any  other  town  of  its  size  ;  according  to  the  verdict  of 
a  resident. 

"  In  political  times  whisky  used  to  flow  in  the  streets.  The 
side  that  could  stand  the  largest  number  of  drinks  won  the 
fight.  '  The  boys  '—Col.  Caldwell,  Gen.  Gregg,  and  others- 
used  to  go  up  from  Elmira  and  hold  meetings  that  generally 
ended  in  glorious  drunks.  Why,  they  laughed  at  the  cru- 
saders, and  thought  it  good  fun. 


fi88  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OP 

puddings  of  rice,  tapioca  and  corn  starch,  baked  apples 
dressed  with  sugar  and  milk,  all  sorts  of  pies  (half  a  pie  being 
given  for  a  portion),  mushes  of  cracked  wheat,  corn  and  oat- 
meal, dumplings,  eggs,  potatoes,  beans,  ham,  corned  beef, 
liver,  'scrapple,'  sausage,  custards,  soups,  pickles,  and  in  sea- 
son, fresh  fruits.  Of  bread,  there  are  Boston  and  Philadel- 
phia brown,  wheat,  Philadelphia  and  Vienna  rolls.  A  pint 
glass  of  milk  with  a  roll  costs  five  cents  ;  butter  three  cents, 
and  extra  rolls  one  cent  each  ;  so  that  for  ten  or  fifteen  cents 
a  man  gets  a  full  luncheon,  as  every  portion  of  food  is  equal  to 
a  large  saucer  heaped. 

"These  establishments  require,  of  course,  the  most  methodi- 
cal, orderly  and  careful  management,  with  capable  matrons  at 
the  head  of  each,  and  a  steward  or  superintendent  to  make 
intelligent  purchases.  At  the  '  Model  Coffee-House,'  there  are 
nearly  fifty  employees,  and,  excepting  three  or  four  men,  they 
are  girls  and  women.  The  upper  rooms  of  the  building  are 
for  the  lodgings,  offices,  laundry  and  drawing-room,  for  the 
use  of  the  employees.  The  girls,  who  are  mostly  of  country 
birth  and  training,  are  thus  furnished  with  a  good  and  safe 
home,  where  they  have  books  and  music,  large  and  well-fur- 
nished chambers,  a  good  table — they  dine  at  one  family  table 
in  their  own  dining-room — and  have  their  washing  and  ironing 
done  in  the  house.  They  are  required  to  be  neat  and  tidy  in 
appearance,  respectable  and  discreet  in  character  and  manner." 

We  have  already  alluded  to  the  further  extension  of  this 
cheap  coffee-house  system,  under  the  special  patronage  of  the 
ladies  of  Philadelphia,  when  the  Murphy  enthusiasm  stirred 
society  to  its  bottom  depths.  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmeyer,  and 
other  good  Samaritans  among  her  noble-hearted  sex,  labored 
assiduously  in  this  direction,  and  no  one,  outside  of  those  who 
watched  all  the  tides  and  currents  of  influence  that  were  work- 
ing under  the  promptings  of  God's  spirit,  can  fully  appreciate 
the  immense  help  :hat  Francis  Murphy  got  through  this 
agency.  He,  himself,  has  been  free  to  acknowledge  it  in 
glowing  terms,  as  indeed  this  man  has  ever,  in  the  words  of 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  689 

the  frankest  hi.mility,  been  prompt  to  concede  the  fullest 
measure  of  praise  to  others. 

The  Murphy  work  in  Philadelphia,  including  the  meetings 
held  under  his  name,  and  the  ground  swell  of  the  storm  of  ex- 
citement itself,  lasted  for  nearly  two  months.  Many  of  his 
distinguished  co-laborers  of  Pittsburgh  fame  worked  with  him, 
and  conducted  enthusiastic  meetings  after  the  great  temper- 
ance reformer  himself  had  departed  for  other  fields  of  labor. 
The  number  of  signers  of  the  Murphy  pledge  in  Pittsburgh 
was  estimated  at  not  less  than  80,000  ;  and  as  a  result  of  the 
Philadelphia  work,  a  two  months  precious  and  glorious  harvest 
— there  were  about  120,000  (so  stated).  Of  course,  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  get  exact  figures,  in  estimating  the  results  of  a  mighty 
wave  of  enthusiasm,  but  the  foregoing  approximate  to  the 
truth.  When  to  the.se  are  added  the  large  number  of  drunk- 
ards reclaimed  in  the  various  local  movements,  which  may  be 
called  the  overflow  of  the  great  central  excitements  at  Pitts- 
burgh and  Philadelphia,  the  aggregate  of  the  fruits  of  the 
Murphy  temperance  reform  in  Pennsylvania  may  be  set  down 
as  not  far  from  400,000. 

It  is  curious  how  a  little  incident  has  sometimes  started  a 
Murphy  movement  in  a  town,  without  any  warning  or  appar- 
ently sufficient  reason  for  so  powerful  a  sweep  of  feeling. 
Truly  the  harvest  has  always  proven  itself  to  be  ready  for  the 
reapers.  The  following  cases  illustrate  this  very  well,  and 
show  what  great  results  may  come  from  insignificant  causes. 
Van  Ettenville,  N.  Y.,  was  probably  one  of  the  worst  towns 
in  the  State,  as  probably  more  liquor  was  drunk  there  in  a  day 
then  in  any  other  town  of  its  size  ;  according  to  the  verdict  of 
a  resident. 

"  In  political  times  whisky  used  to  flow  in  the  streets.  The 
side  that  could  stand  the  largest  number  of  drinks  won  the 
fight.  '  The  boys  ' — Col.  Caldwell,  Gen.  Gregg,  and  others — 
used  to  go  up  from  Elmira  and  hold  meetings  that  generally 
ended  in  glorious  drunks.  Why,  they  laughed  at  the  cru- 
saders, and  thought  it  good  fun. 


690  THE  LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

"  About  six  weeks  ago  one  of  the  best  fellows  there  was  go- 
ing along  the  street  one  morning,  and  met  another.  The  first 
said  :  "  You're  looking  better  lately  than  I've  seen  you  in  a 
long  time.'  '  Well,  I  am  better.  Fact  is,  I  haven't  been 
drinking  anything  for  about  two  weeks,  and  I've  about  made 
up  my  mind  that  I'll  stop.'  '  Just  what  I've  been  thinking  of 
myself.  Haven't  we  been  making  fools  of  ourselves  long 
enough  ? ' 

"  Out  of  such  a  conversation  as  this  the  movement  in  Van 
Ettenville  was  begun.  These  two,  with  a  few  others,  sent  to 
Elmira  for  speakers  for  a  meeting.  The  men  who  arranged 
for  the  meeting,  who  did  all  the  work,  and  who  packed  the 
house  were,  or  had  been  drinking  men.  The  place  was  carried 
completely. 

"Another  instance,  in  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  our 
remarks,  may,  perhaps,  satisfy  the  reader  : 

"  The  inauguration  of  the  movement  at  Somerset,  Ohio,  was 
so  peculiar  as  to  warrant  notice,  and  shows  how  slight  an 
instrument  may  set  this  great  machinery  of  reform  in  motion. 
Two  carpenters,  Taylor  and  Eagle,  having  squandered  nearly 
all  their  pay  for  a  certain  work  in  drink,  were  finishing  up  in 
Stein's  saloon.  Taylor  produced  a  Murphy  pledge,  which  his 
brother,  a  reformed  drinker  at  Lancaster,  had  sent  him,  and 
began  to  talk  of  the  movement.  Stein  jeered  at  him,  and 
offered  him  ten  cents  to  sign.  He  regarded  it  as  an  immense 
joke  when  Taylor  did  sign  ;  and  Eagle,  having  no  other  pledge, 
signed  the  same  card.  A  few  days  later,  Dr.  Rickey,  one  of 
Lancaster's  noble  workers,  saw  Taylor  here,  and  gave  him  the 
eight  pledges  he  happened  to  have  with  him.  In  less  than  an 
hour  he  was  back  for  more.  -New  pledges  were  ordered 
printed,  and  in  a  very  short  time  the  enthusiasm  called  for 
public  meetings  and  the  Murphy  movement  was  begun. 

"  And  thus  we  find  it  through  Indiana,  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Maryland,  and  throughout  most  of  the  States.  By 
insignificant  beginnings  a  flame  of  enthusiasm  has  been 
kindled." 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  691 

The  Murphy  movement  is  distinguished  on  the  part  of  its 
followers  by  tt.e  wearing  of  a  bit  of  blue  ribbon  worn  in  the 
button-hole  of  the  coat.  Other  reform  movements  are  desig- 
nated by  different  colors,  as  for  instance  that  of  Dr.  Reynolds, 
by  red.  In  various  parts  of  the  West,  it  is  common  to  notice 
on  the  part  of  almost  everybody  on  the  street,  the  bit  of  rib- 
bon, which  indicates  adherence  to  one  or  the  other  of  the 
different  reform  currents.  Of  course  there  is  a  slight  differ- 
ence in  the  organization  of  the  various  leagues.  The  white- 
ribbon  is  a  sort  of  side  degree,  so  to  speak,  of  the  red-ribbon 
league,  as  it  is  worn  only  by  women  and  young  men  under 
eighteen.  The  difference  between  the  red-ribbon  pledge  and 
that  which  has  already  been  given  may  be  seen  in  the  follow- 
ing : 

"  We  the  undersigned,  for  our  own  good,  and  the  good  of 
the  world  in  which  we  live,  do  hereby  promise  and  engage 
with  the  help  of  Almighty  God,  to  abstain  from,  buying, 
selling  or  using  alcoholic  or  malt  beverages,  wine  or  cider  in- 
cluded." 

The  wearing  of  the  ribbon  has  this  grand  advantage  ;  it 
saves  the  wearer  from  the  danger  of  an  invitation  to  drink. 
Of  course  this  building  up  of  barriers -around  the  reformed 
drunkard  is  the  great  object  of  all  organizations  in  the  carry- 
ing on  of  the  work,  after  the  first  swell  of  excitement  has 
passed  by.  To  save  the  results  and  utilize  the  fruits  of  the 
work  is  even  a  more  important  function  than  that  of  kindling' 
the  flame.  The  Murphy  work  at  the  outset  did  not  sufficiently 
cover  this  important  branch  of  the  labor  of  saving  the  drunk- 
ard ;  but  with  time  and  development  the  reformer  himself, 
and  the  able  and  experienced  men  whom  he  has  gathered 
around  him  have  fully  wrought  out  a  system  for  perpetuating 
the  influence. 5,  once  planted,  into  a  permanence. 


892  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MUTJPHY'S  SPEECH  AT  COLUMBUS,  OHIO. — THE  WOBK  AT  ELMIEA, 

N.  T. INTERESTING  SCENES  IN  THE  NEW  YORK    REVIVAL. 

FACTS,  INCIDENTS    AND    FIGURES    OF    THE    RESULTS    OF    THE 
MURPHY  MOVEMENT  IN  THE    SOUTHERN    TIER  OF    COUNTIES, 

GROWING   OUT    OF  THE    ELMIRA  WORK. FRANCIS    MURPHY'S 

SPEECH  AT   CHATAUQUA. 

FRANCIS  MURPHY'S  labors  are  in  such  demand  that  to  utilize 
the  good  to  be  accomplished  in  the  highest  possible  degree,  he 
has  been  obliged  to  scatter  his  personal  efforts  over  different 
points,  himself  starting  the  conflagration,  and  trusting  the 
feeding  and  extension  of  the  work  to  the  labors  of  local 
speakers  under  the  leadership  of  his  lieutenants.  After  start- 
ing the  reform  movement  at  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Murphy  de- 
parted, but  the  glorious  tide  of  enthusiasm  swelled  and  grew 
without  ceasing  till  the  end,  and  the  whole  tier  of  Southern 
counties  felt  the  effects  in  a  series  of  successive  local  excite- 
ments. This  portion  of  the  Murphy  work,  for  such  it  is  en- 
titled to  be  called,  no  less  than  if  he  had  been  continually  pres- 
ent, it  will  be  the  object  of  the  present  chapter  to  describe. 
But  before  recurring  to  the  Elmira  work  proper,  we  shall  take 
occasion  to  present  to  our  readers  an  excellent  specimen  of 
Murphy's  oratory  in  the  speech  he  delivered  at  Columbus, 
Ohio,  in  June,  1877.  It  is  of  characteristic  flavor,  and  will 
amply  repay  perusal.  Of  course,  Mr.  Murphy's  speeches,  like 
those  of  most  powerful  orators,  are  made  to  be  heard  rather 
than  read,  full  of  those  strokes  which  get  their  value  from  the 
personal  force  of  the  man.  The  Columbus  speech,  however,  is 
full  of  good  things,  and  would  do  credit  to  a  man  of  more 


FRANCIS    MURPHY,  693 

culture  and  experience  than  the  great  temperance  reformer  can 
lay  claim  to.     The  portions  we  give  are  as  follows  : 
"  Mr,  Chairman  /  My  Friends : 

"I  am  glad  to  be  here  to-night  and  listen  to  the  testimony 
of  these  two  Christian  gentlemen  who  have  been  the  means, 
under  God,  of  bringing  joy  and  peace  to  so  many  hearts.  I 
am  glad  to  be  here,  and  to  stand  on  this  platform  and  have  the 
honor  of  being  introduced  by  this  young  gentleman,  who  has 
been  redeemed  through  the  kind  ministrations  of  my  brother 
David  Hall,  and  who  to-night,  stands  erect  in  all  the  dignity 
of  his  new-born  life,  and  can  stand  up  and  say,  'I  know  that 
if  the  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  were  dissolved,  I  have 
a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens.'  And  though  this  work  should  cease,  and  though 
nothing  else  should  have  been  accomplished  through  the  visit 
to  your  city  but  the  redemption,  the  complete  redemption,  of 
this  young  man  would  be  a  sufficient  remuneration  for  every 
cent  that  you  have  paid  out,  for  every  night  that  you  have 
spent,  and  for  every  prayer  that  you  have  uttered.  May  God 
bless  the  movement,  and  may  it  continue  to  go  on  until  the 
last  wandering  son  has  been  redeemed  and  brought  back  to  his 
father's  house,  and  received  the  best  robe  and  the  gold  ring  and 
pair  of  shoes.  Thanks  be  to  God  for  the  triumphs  of  this 
moral  reform  that  has  nothing  in  it  of  malice,  nothing  in  it  of 
hatred,  nothing  in  it  of  egotism,  nothing  in  it  of  self-right- 
eousness ;  for  we  don't  stand  off  and  pray  and  thank  God  that 
we  are  not  like  other  people  ;  that  we  pay  our  taxes  and  tithes, 
and  such  things  as  that ;  we  prefer  to  stand  by  the  foot  of  the 
cross  and  say,  '  Lord,  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner.'  That  is  our 
prayer  ;  and  with  it  we  shall  go  forth,  not  claiming  any  self- 
righteousness,  not  claiming  that  we  are  holier  than  others,  and 
fear  to  come  in  contact  with  our  fellow-men  when  we  meet 
them,  lest  our  garments  become  soiled  ;  but  if  you  are  men, 
^y  the  grace  of  God  ;  if  the  golden  links  of  the  brotherhood 
of  man  hai  e  been,  so  to  speak,  clinched  around  our  hearts,  and 
by  God's  invisible  angel  carried  to  the  everlasting  throne  and 


694  THE   LIFE  AND    WOKK  OF 

there  securely  fastened — if  this  has  been  done,  we  can  go 
down  into  the  wilderness,  blessed  be  God  ;  we  can  go  down 
into  the  wilderness  and  .to  the  solitary  places,  and  to  the 
prisons  of  this  country  and  proclaim  liberty  to  the  captives, 
and  the  opening  of  a  better  life  to  the  oppressed  of  this  coun- 
try, to  the  weeping  wives  and  starving  children. 

"  I  would  like  to  pay  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  men  who  have 
been  engaged  in  this  work.  I  have  no  need  of  saying  any- 
thing of  these  men  to  you  ;  a  eulogy  is  not  called  for  ;  but  I 
want  to  say  that  these  two  plain  men  you  see  on  this  platform 
— Brother  David  and  Brother  George — in  the  city  of  Pitts- 
burgh, when  they  came  to  sign  the  pledge,  astonished  the 
natives,  to  use  a  homely  expression  ;  and  if  this  movement  has 
been  a  success  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  I  wish  to  say  to  you 
that  these  men  have  contributed  as  much  to  that  success  as 
Frank  Murphy.  I  have  done  very  little  for  this  movement  in 
comparison  With  what  other  men  have. 

"  The  press  of  this  country  has  done  a  great  work  for  this 
movement,  and  I  wish  now  to  express  my  heartfelt  thanks  for 
the  kind  consideration  I  have  received  in  your  city,  knowing 
well  that  I  come  to  you  making  no  profession  of  scholarship 
or  oratory,  for  I  was  starved  in  the  morning  of  my  life  ; 
school-houses  were  scarce  where  I  was  born,  and  it  was  con- 
sidered best  not  to  allow  the  boys  to  go  over  there  beyond 
where  he  might  receive  a  religious  education,  for  fear  his  reli- 
gions ideas  might  be  proselyted  to  some  extent,  and  hence  I 
had  to  be  caged  up. 

"  And  let  me  say  to  you  I  would  not  advise  you  not  to  go  to 
school,  no  matter  what  the  religious  belief  of  the  teacher  is, 
because  knowledge  is  power  wherever  you  go,  and  it  is  knowl- 
edge that  makes  men  strong  and  noble,  and  enables  them  to 
stand  up  so  evenly-balanced  with  such  a  magnanimous  spirit 
and  heart  that  all  who  know  them  can  stand  up  and  say, 
'There,  that  is  a  man.'  And  it  is  a  pity  for  us  who  have  been 
deprived  of  an  education  and  are  compelled  to  stand  before 
the  world  feeling  the  necessity  of  it.  It  is  a  beautiful  thing 


FRANCIS    MUTCPHY.  695 

for  the  American  people  that  when  an  American  comes  np  to 
sign  the  pledge,  but  very  few  of  them  will  stand  up  and  just 
make  an  excuse,  with  their  finger  on  their  forehead  and  say, 
'Will  you  please  sign  ray  name  ?'  You  will  see  very  few  of 
them  make  their  scratch.  It  is  something  you  have  reason  to 
be  proud  of.  The  foundations  of  truth  and  justice  are  laid  in 
intelligence  in  this  country.  I  believe  that  is  the  power  that 
moves  the  whole  of  this  country. 

"  It  is  the  grandest  thought  that  can  come  to  me  to-night, 
that  I  am  a  man  with  a  living,  breathing  soul  within  me,  and 
that  the  world,  grand  and  glorious  as  it  is  to-night,  with  its 
sloping  hillsides  decorated  with  God's  precious  flowers — lilies 
of  the  valley,  attired  in  their  wonderful  splendor — as  God  has 
woven  them  into  His  carpet ;  they,  too,  speak  to  us  ;  yes,  and 
from  babbling  springs,  and  from  flowing  brooks,  and  from 
great  streams  that  leap  to  the  ocean,  and  from  the  grand 
mountains  that  break  forth  before  you  into  singing,  and  the 
golden  harvest-fields  that  wave  before  you,  bringing  God  so 
near  to  you  that,  i*everently,  man  should  take  off  his  hat  while 
lie  speaks  to  us  in  everything.  Standing  before  you  in  the 
limitless  prairie,  and  heaven,  with  its  bright  constellations 
looking  down  upon  us  with  so  sweet,'  so  pure,  so  holy  a  light, 
oh,  how  they  touch  the  divinity  that  is  within  !  how  the  long- 
ing soul  seeks  for  that  transparent  beauty  that  speaks  to  us  in 
these  bright  gems  that  are  put  there  by  the  sacred  power  of 
God  Himself,  beyond  the  reach  of  sin,  beyond  the  reach  of 
wrong,  the  living,  perpetual  and  eternal  testimony  of  His  own 
power  ;  omnipotent  in  Himself,  speaking  to  us  to-night  with 
a  language  too  holy  for  utterance  ;  and  from  the  sea  that  He 
holds  in  the  palm  of  His  hand,  and  from  the  mountains  that 
have  been  Aveighed  in  the  balance  ;  the  seasons  that  come 
and  go,  touching  everything  about  us,  telling  of  their 
approach  and  their  departure.  When  these  things  shall  have 
passed  away,  the  immortal  soul,  the  divine  power  that  is 
within  us,  by  a  power  known  only  to  itself,  on  the  invisible 
wings  of  its  own  faith  and  own  might,  can  soar  beyond  all 


696  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 

this  and  pass  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  to  the  very  constella- 
tions, and  stand  and  gaze  upon  their  beauty  ;  sweep  beyond 
them  through  the  milky  way  and  stand  at  the  pearly  gates  of 
God's  eternal  city  and  into  the  golden  streets,  and  can  stand 
on  tHe  banks  of  the  river  of  life  and  can  behold  the  water  of 
life  as  it  courses  from  the  throne  of  God,  can  stand  under  the 
shadow  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  by  a  faith  beyond  the  power 
of  darkness  or  distance  to  dim,  can  see  the  golden  streets  and 
purple  fruit  that  is  made  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  Oh, 
to  be  a  sober  man  !  What  a  grand  thought !  To  be  a  sober 
man,  redeemed,  saved,  and  every  chain  broken  ;  a  man  restored 
to  his  sober,  virtuous,  Christian  manhood.  I  thank  God  that 
I  am  a  man  ;  I  thank  God  that  he  made  me  so  ;  I  am  no  ma- 
terial thing, .but  a  living,  breathing  soul;  and  the  world,  to- 
night, with  all  its  beauty  and  grandeur,  when  it  is  swept  out 
of  existence,  this  soul  shall  live  on  forever,  during  the  cease- 
less ages  of  eternity  ;  blessed  be  God  for  this  thought. 

"  Yes,  it  pays  to  be  sober — it  pays  to  be  sober.  This 
new  life  that  comes  to  me  to-night,  I  have  no  language  to 
describe  it  to  you.  It  is  universally  admitted  among  sensible 
and  candid  people,  everywhere,  that  drunkenness  is  the  great 
curse  of  our  social  national  life.  It  is  not  characteristic  of 
Americans,  for  the  same  may  be  said  with  greater  emphasis  of 
the  social  life  of  Great  Britain  ;  but  it  is  one  of  the  things 
about  which  there  can  be  no  doubt,  that  cholera  and  typhoid 
fever,  and  all  the  rest  of  diseases  that  come  to  us,  bring  less 
of  fatality  and  infinitely  less  of  sorrow.  There  are  wives, 
mothers  and  children  to-night,  within  every  circle  that  em- 
braces the  young  lives,  who  are  weeping  over  some  victim  of 
the  seductive  destroyer.  East,  West,  North  and  South  there 
are  men  and  women  who  can  not  be  trusted  with  liquor  in 
their  hands  ;  men  and  women  who  have  ceased  to  tight  the 
appetite  that  has  power  within  itself  to  destroy  everything 
that  makes  life  desirable  ;  men  and  women  who,  when  they 
see  tiie  labels  of  intoxication  painted  on  the  windows,  as  they 
pass  by,  feel  the  jlood  coursing  faster  in  their  veins  ;  BO  to 


FKANCIS    MUEPHY.  697 

speak,  they  can  almost  taste  it  in  their  mouths,  because  of  this 
terrible  appetite  that  they  have  cultivated  and  brought  to 
such  wonderful  perfection.  In  passing  along  the  street  where 
liquor  is  they  will  inhale  the  fragrance,  and  are  almost  com- 
pelled to  stop  and  wait  around.  There  is  a  fascination  about 
it  ;  they  feel  the  want  and  necessity  of  it  ;  want  of  just  this 
stimulant  to  lift  them  up  ;  they  are  dreary  and  weary  and  dis- 
consolate, and  just  a  little  sick.  Oh,  how  precious  it  would 
be  to  the  longing  appetite  !  And,  I  think,  to-night,  in  this 
great  work  of  reform  how  much  we  need  Christian  charity 
and  Christian  sympathy  to  be  able  to  measure  the  strength  of 
appetite.  Men  are  not  brought  there  immediately,  but  after 
years  of  respectability  and  years  of  pleasant  life,  and  of  pass- 
ing back  and  forth  through  respectable  society,  and  being 
toasted  as  the  acknowledged  guests  and  brightest  stars  in  your 
city,  have  cultivated  this  appetite  until  it  became  a  mad  pas- 
sion, and  they  lose  control  of  themselves,  and  then  are,  so  to 
speak,  kicked  out  on  the  street,  and  it  is  said,  'You  are  a 
miserable  drunkard,  and  good  for  nothing.'  And  the  case  of 
these  men  has  been  looked  upon  as  entirely  hopeless,  and  no 
person  cares  for  them.  I  think  that  this  movement  is  a  special 
dispensation  from  God  Himself,  to  redeem  the  poor  unfortu- 
nate drunkard  ;  and  while  the  great  temperance  movements 
heretofore  sought  to  keep  men  from  becoming  drunkards, 
while  the  poor  men  who  have  been  wounded  in  the  battle, 
whose  arms  have  been  broken  and  their  reason  dethroned,  and 
they  become  maniacs  on  the  street,  are  left  with  no  person  to 
take  them  to  an  inn  and  pay  their  bills,  this  movement  seems 
to  be  a  necessity  of  the  present  state  of  temperance,  and  must, 
and  by  the  grace  of  God  it  will,  quicken  the  Church  and  the 
hearts  of  humanity.  I  believe  it  will  compel  us  to  go  out  into 
the  world  and  save  these  poor  wanderers. 

"  In  spite  of   what  we  see  of   men,  socially,  and   the  ter- 
rible   appetite,   the    terrible   temptation,   and  the   power   it 
has  over  some  men,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  all  this  is 
known,  yet  there  are  gentlemen  in  society  who  give  parties, 
80 


698  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

and  ladies' who  issue  their  cards,  and  send  them  out  to  William 
and  James  and  John,  saying  that  '  Susan  desires  the  pleasure  of 
their  company  at  her  house  on  a  certain  evening.'  All  this  is 
very  nice,  and  Susan  is  a  splendid  girl,  and  James  and  Wil- 
liam don  their  best  suits  and  get  their  girls,  and  how  they  will 
go  down  there  !  Yes,  sir,  the  arrangements  have  all  been 
made.  It  is  among  the  bon  ton,  the  best  people  of  the  place. 
It  is  just  the  place  for  a  fine  time,  and  William  is  just  the  man 
to  give  it.  His  heart  is  as  great  as  he  is  wealthy  ;  what  a 
queenly  wife  he  has,  too,  and  how  she  adorns  things  about  the 
place  !  Yes,  indeed. 

"  The  young  men  look  forward  with  anticipation,  and  the 
ladies  have  their  suits  made  ;  the  young  men  have  theirs  pre- 
pared for  the  occasion  ;  the  coachmen  are  dressed  in  their 
livery,  don  their  high  collars  and  silk  hats  and  the  horses  are 
all  aglow,  if  you  please,  for  the  occasion  ;  they  seem  to  catch 
the  spirit  of  it.  The  drivers  are  more  erect  and  graceful,  and 
their  whips  have  a  silvery  tongue  to  them  that  the  horses  seem 
to  understand.  Why,  the  whole  air  is  pregnant  with  the 
spirit  of  the  occasion  ;  the  carriages  start  off,  and  soon  the 
house  can  be  seen  on  the  hillside.  You  can  see  the  beautiful 
pine  trees,  and  the  beautiful  blossoming  trees,  and  the  weeping 
willow  gracefully  bending  almost  to  the  earth  to  kiss  it. 
Through  the  trees  can  be  seen  the  strange  intoxicating  light 
of  the  Chinese  lanterns,  that  tell  you  the  whole  palace  is  alive 
with  joy.  Soon  the  carriages  roll  up,  one  after  another.  The 
bell  rings  and  there  is  a  committee  of  gentlemen  and  ladies  in 
waiting  to  receive  you,  with  a  'How  are  you?  Welcome, 
welcome  ;  here,  in  this  way  ;  this  way,  if  you  please  ; '  and 
their  hats  and  coats  are  taken,  and  everything  is  arranged  in 
the  most  classical  style.  Why,  we  become  as  young  as  we 
used  to  be,  as  we  step  into  the  spacious  reception  rooms  filled 
with  the  fragrance  and  beautiful  bouquets,  and  see  the  young 
and  beautiful  guests.  It  seems  to  be  a  new  paradise  that  has 
openel  up  before  Charles  and  William  and  James.  There  are 
folding  doors  that  extend  across,  between  the  rooms,  and 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  699 

Susan  has  opened  them.  By-and-by  the  most  exquisite  lady  in 
the  room  has  been  called  to  touch  the  musical  box  ;  as  she 
nicely  adjusts  the  stool  to  its  proper  height,  and,  being  seated, 
she  manipulates  the  keys,  pouring  forth  the  sweetest  strains  of 
music,  the  boys  step  out  and  get  their  partners  and  walk 
around  a  little,  at  first  very  gracefully,  you  know,  as  they  hear 
the  music.  By-and-by  they  get  a  little  intoxicated  with  the 
music  and  the  boys  get  to  waltzing  around  a  little.  It  is  a 
splendid  entertainment,  yes,  indeed.  Soon  beautiful  ladies 
come  with  silver  trays  and  cut  glass  filled  with  sparkling  wine, 
with  grace  and  glory,  and  with  hands  so  plump  and  beautiful 
that  they  outrival  the  gems  that  flash  upon  them,  and  almost 
dazzle  your  eyes.  I  tell  you  it  is  no  inferior  class  of  society, 
but  the  queenly  women  who  have  been  cultured  to  perfection 
and  understand  what  the  etiquette  is  that  goes  to  make 
up  a  place  of  this  kind.  These  ladies  approach  and  say, 
'Please  take  a  glass  of  wine,  if  you  please,  James,  with  me.' 
James  says,  '  Well,  I  don't  wish  to.'  '  Why,  James,  take  a 
glass  with  me,  if  you  please  ;  take  a  glass  now  with  Susan  ;  just 
take  a  glass  to-night.'  It  requires  a  great  deal  of  courage  for 
a  young  man  to  straighten  back  in  his  chair  and  say  :  'No, 
miss,  I  don't  indulge  in  the  use  of  wine  on  any  occasion.'  It 
requires  a  great  deal  of  courage  to  say  that,  although  it  may 
seem  a  small  thing  to  do.  But  a  man  who  can  do  that,  and 
do  it  nobly,  has  won  a  greater  victory  than  Grant  ever  won, 
even  when  he  received  the  sword  of  Lee  on  the  battle-ground 
of  Appomattox.  You  say  it  is  a  small  thing.  It  may  seem  a 
small  thing  to  many  of  you,  but  there  is,  so  to  speak,  a  dignity 
of  manhood  and  a  courtesy  that  belongs  to  the  young  lady, 
and  the  courtesies  that  are  to  be  extended  to  her  from  a  young 
gentleman  who  claims  to  be  gallant,  and  who  holds  his  head 
erect,  and  who  is  expected  to  be  looked  upon  with  some  degree 
of  inferiority  if  he  does  not  accept  a  little  wine  on  such  an  oc- 
casion as  this.  They  will  say  to  him  :  'Why,  I  am  perfectly 
astonished  at  you.'  Oh,  yes  ;  but  let  me  say  to-  you,  young 
man,  be  true  to  yourself  ;  yield  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  an 


700  TH£   LIFE    A1STD   WORK    OF 

honest  heart.  Remember  the  baptism  of  your  mother  ;  remem- 
ber the  counsels  of  your  father  ;  remember  the  sacred  duties 
that  are  devolving  upon  you  ;  remember  the  sacred  trusts  that 
rest  upon  you.  You  are,  perhaps,  placed  in  some  position  ;  per- 
haps the  most  honorable  in  the  city  ;  perhaps  you  are  at  the 
counting  room  of  a  banker,  or  counter  of  some  merchant  prince, 
and  have  control  of  his  business  and  the  direction  of  it ;  and  it 
will  be  one  of  the  grandest  events  in  your  life  to  have  the  fact 
come  to  that  man  that  William  refused  to  take  wine  at  that 
party.  It  will  increase  his  confidence  in  you  a  hundred  per 
cent.,  and  though  he  may  never  mention  it  to  you,  you  will  see 
a  change  in  the  conduct  of  that  man  towards  you,  and  at 
no  distant  day  will  he  reward  you  in  a  way  that  will  do  you 
good  and  give  you  a  stimulus  that  will  aid  you  all  your  life. 

"  I  am  one  of  those  that  believe  that  if  the  wine  cellars 
were  cleared  out  we  wouldn't  have  much  trouble  with  saloons. 
I  believe  that  wine  cellars  have  a  great  deal  to  do  in  making 
saloon  drinking.  I  believe  if  the  wealthy  men  and  women  in 
this  country  would  come  down  to  assist  those  whom  they  con- 
sider the  worthless  and  unfortunate,  who  are  the  victims  of 
intemperance,  the  work  would  be  done  in  less  than  three 
months.  There  are  women  in  this  city  who  have  not  yet 
signed  the  pledge,  and  there  are  men  in  this  city  who  have  not 
signed  the  pledge  who  should  have  done  so  ;  and  if  they  would 
do  so,  I  tell  you  it  would  shake  the  city  to  its  very  foundations, 
and  a  greater  and  grander  victory  would  come  to  you  than  we 
have  ever  had  yet,  if  we  would  only  do  what  we  might  in  this 
blessed  work. 

"•  There  are  some  men  who  will  say  they  can  drink  or  let  it 
alone  when  they  have  a  mind  to.  I  grant  you  that  some  men 
can  do  so,  but  we  know  that  liquor  has  a  wonderful  fascination 
for  some  men  ;  we  know  that  it  has  a  wonderful  power  over 
them  ;  young  men  occasionally  drinking  together  become 
married  to  each  other,  and  there  is  a  friendship  existing  among 
them  that  does  not  exist  among  other  persons.  If  Tom  had 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  701 

been  in  the  habit  of  getting  off  a  little,  here  is  Bill  that  will 
step  around  and  -hunt  him  up,  and  when  he  finds  him — ten 
chances  to  one  if  he  finds  him — he  will  prevail  on  his  taking 
something.  He  will  say,  '  Come  Tom,  let  us  take  something.' 
Tom  says,  '  I  ain't  a  going  to  do  it.'  '  Don't  bother  ;  come 
along,  Tom  ;  come  up  and  take  something  ;  just  take  one 
drink,'  and  thus  would  their  kind  persuasion  overcome  their 
comrades.  I  think  if  Christian  men  were  just  as  much  in 
earnest  as  drinking  men  are  we  would  have  a  wonderful  re- 
vival. But,  for  instance,  if  you  go  into  a  church,  and  no  per- 
son speaks  to  you,  you  will  not  attend  much  ;  when  you  go  in, 
there  is  a  man  dressed  in  black  who  points  you  to  a  seat,  but 
never  says  '  I  am  glad  to  see  you,'  or  makes  any  inquiry  where 
you  are  from.  When  you  go  out  the  people  crowd  the  aisles 
and  do  not  speak  to  you  ;  do  you  suppose  that  drinking  men 
are  going  back  to  hear  you  preach  ?  Not  much  ;  they  don't 
want  any  such  entertainment.  It  would  be  better  for  you  to 
pass  by  the  men  yon  are  in  the  habit  of  speaking  to  every  day, 
and  speak  to  the  strangers.  If  you  meet  a  young  man,  ask 
him  where  he  boards,  and  what  his  circumstances  are  ;  if  he 
has  come  to  your  city,  who  his  employer  is,  and  where  he  is 
boarding.  Perhaps  you  will  find  he  is  in  an  attic  chamber,  and 
in  needy  circumstances  ;  he  is  some  mother's  son  ;  invite  him 
down  to  take  dinner  with  you  ;  be  a  father  to  him  ;  perhaps 
some  one  may  be  a  father  to  your  boy.  Don't  be  so  self- 
righteous  that  you  will  allow  people  to  go  out  of  the  church 
without  making  their  acquaintance.  Be  sociable  and  friendly, 
and  they  will  come  back  to  you,  but  not  till  then.  Think  of 
these  men  that  chase  each  other  around  the  street,  trying  co 
find  each  other.  I  remember  the  time  when  I  was  in  the  habit 
of  taking  a  little  something  for  my  stomach's  sake  ;  I  was  one 
of  the  boys  who  stuck  at  it  ;  when  I  got  hold  of  a  customer  I 
didn't  let  him  go  away  without  taking  something  to  drink,  and 
having  some  fun.  'Just  take  one  drink,'  and  that  one  drink, 
in  all  probability,  leads  to  a  spree." 

Mr.  Murphy  here  illustrated  the  strong  attachment  shown  by 


702  THE  LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

companions  in  drink  for  one  another  by  relating  the  story  that 
is  told  of  two  Irishmen,  upon  their  recent  -arrival  here  from 
their  mother  country,  describing  the  tenacity  with  which  the 
musquitoes  hung  to  them  in  a  swamp.  The  speaker  rendered 
the  story  with  great  effect  by  telling  it  in  the  genuine  brogue 
of  his  countrymen,  and  as  he  concluded  his  picture  of  the 
scene,  with  the  remark  of  one  of  those  traveling  companions, 
who,  upon  peeping  from  under  his  blanket,  beheld  a  fire-fly, 
thinking  it  one  of  their  tormentors  still  in  search  of  them, 
'  Fergus,  we  might  as  well  be  afther  getting  out  now,  for  here 
is  one  of  the  crathurs,  with  his  lantern,  looking  for  us,'  the 
laughter  and  applause  were  tremendous. 

"  So,"  continued  the  speaker,  "  I  have  been  in  about  the 
same  position  of  my  countrymen  ;  I  have  had  to  run  away 
from  my  friends  with  whom  I  have  been  associated  ;  I  have 
had  to  run  away  to  escape  intoxication  ;  there  is  no  getting 
away  from  them  ;  they  will  hold  on  to  you  asking  you  to  take 
something,  'just  one  dz-ink,'  but  that  'just  one  drink'  would 
perhaps  end  in  a  spree  of  three  days,  and  the  wind-up  be  a 
sorrowful  one,  I  assure  you. 

"  Let  me  say  to  you  to-night,  young  man,  you  who  are  free 
from  this  terrible  evil ;  let  me  say  to  you,  husband,  to-night, 
if  you  are  expecting  to  drink  or  let  it  alone  whenever  you 
have  a  mind  to,  remember  there  is  a  wonderful  hidden  power 
in  this  dreadful  habit  ;  remember  that  it  is  a  silken  thread 
you  can  hardly  see,  but  that  it  will  wind  itself  around 
and  around  you  until  it  will  have  you  enchained  beneath  its 
power,  and  when  you  undertake  to  break  away,  will  cost  you 
all  the  strength  you  have  got,  and,  perhaps,  like  many  of  us, 
you  will  not  be  able  of  yourself  to  break  the  chain  that  has 
held  you  bound  down  to  a  habit  that  will  rob  you  of  all  your 
property  ;'  rob  you  of  your  reason  ;  destroy  your  sense  of 
honor,  and  steal  from  you  your  good  name.  '  He  that  steals 
my  purse  steals  trash,  but  he,  sir,  who  steals  from  me  my 
good  name,  takes  that  which  doth  not  enrich  him,  but  makes 
me  poor  in  leed.' 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  703 

"  Thou  fiend  of  rum,  Oh,  thou  invisible  spirit !  if  we  had 
no  name  to  know  thee  by,  why  not  call  thee  devil  ! 

"  From  this  platform,  in  this  hall  of  yours,  where  the  eloquent 
tongues  of  your  statesmen  have  inspired  you  with  confidence 
in  the  right,  with  confidence  in  justice,  with  confidence  in  truth, 
that  our  forefathers  placed  upon  the  altar  of  our  country,  though 
it  was  dimmed  by  the  infernal  shadow  of  bloody  slavery  ; 
though,  so  to  speak,  its  like  had  almost  gone  out  beneath  the 
iron  hand  of  oppression,  from  this  platform  have  come  the  voices, 
have  come  the  manhood,  have  come  the  virtues  that  have 
touched  your  manly  hearts,  and  have  made  each  man  and  each 
woman  stand  erect  again — stand  erect  clothed  with  a  power  be- 
yond the  reach  of  slavery,  clothed  you  with  a  strength  equal  to 
Hercules,  making  you  almost  omnipotent,  and  you  have 
marched  from  this  capital  with  a  heart  filled  with  the  love  of 
truth,  with  a  patriotism  that  encompassed  our  beloved  country, 
done  your  duty  and  have  won  a  victory  for  all  time  for  the 
cause  of  justice,  and  for  republicanism.  But  to-night  there 
is  a  grander  cause  pleading  for  you,  and  a  grander  silence 
that  speaks  to  you.  I  hear  to-night  the  wail  of  the  oppressed 
mothers  of  this  country  ;  I  hear  five  hundred  thousand  vic- 
tims that  are  chained  to-night  in  the  living  tombs  of  this 
country,  who  have  been  poisoned  by  the  malaria  of  the  upas 
tree  of  death.  This  upas  tree  has  got  its  roots  in  the  sacred 
soil  of  this  country.  Is  it  possible  that  God's  sunlight  has 
ever  touched  it  ?  that  God's  rain  has  ever  watered  it  ?  Never, 
never,  never.  It  has  been  watered  by  the  blood  of  mothers' 
hearts.  Yes,  on  its  branches  to-night  hang  the  death-war- 
rants of  more  than  twenty  millions  of  the  bravest  men  and 
the  queenliest  women  that  God  ever  gave  to  the  world.  Let 
us  cut  it  down,  Jimmy  ;  let  us  cut  it  down,  David  ;  let  us  cut 
it  down,  men.  With  pledges  in  your  hands,  come  to  the  res- 
cue. Let  us  strike  a  blow  into  its  infernal  trunk.  Let  us  hate 
it,  men,  let  us  hate  it.  See  it  stagger.  Clear  the  way,  and 
give  it  a  place  to  fall.  Let  us  trim  its  branches  ;  let  us  log  its 
dead,  infernal  trunk  ;  let  us  set  fire  to  it.  Let  us  have  a  bon- 


704  THE   LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

fire  in  Columbus,  and  burn  it  to  ashes,  and  bury  the  ashes  so 
deep  down  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  that  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  by  the  blessing  of  heaven,  it  shall  never,  never,  NEVER, 
NEVER  have  a  resurrection.  May  God  bless  you." 

The  Murphy  movement  in  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  was  put  into 
motion  by  the  Rev.  \V.  E.  Knox,  a  gentleman  whose  name  has 
become  a  "household  word"  in  every  house  in  that  city. 
Reading  the  glowing  and  almost  incredible  accounts  in  the 
different  journals  of  the  great  and  wonderful  temperance 
wave  that  had  struck  the  city  of  Pittsburgh,  and  swept  over  it, 
carrying  all  things  before  and  with  it,  he  felt  what  a  blessed 
thing  it  would  be  if  such  a  "tidal  wave"  as  that  could  sweep 
over  Elmira  in  the  same  fashion,  and  with  the  same  glorious 
results.  This  feeling  entered  him,  and  took  such  firm  posses- 
sion of  his  being  that  he  could  not  pass  a  single  day  without 
being  haunted  by  it.  Finally  it  became  a  determination.  He 
resolved  that  Elmira  should  have  a  shock — a  grand  sweep  of  the 
temperance  reform,  which  indeed  it  most  sorely  needed.  The 
Elmirans  had  become  apparently  indifferent  to  drunkenness 
and  drunkards  in  their  midst ;  and  went  their  way,  seemingly 
caring  very  little  whether  the  awful  evil  was  killed  forever,  or 
whether  the  drunkard  was  brought  to  the  correct  estimation  of 
h,is  degraded  condition,  and  helped  to  a  blessed  reformation. 
The  place  was  full  of  drinking  saloons,  and  a  man  reeling 
through  the  streets  had  become  a  familiar  object,  exciting  very 
little  if  any  surprise  or  sorrow.  The  youth  of  the  city  resorted 
to  the  numerous  "  corners,"  and  there  acquired  a  desire  for 
intoxicating  liquors.  What  was  to  be  done  to  put  a  stop  to 
all  this  evil  ?  The  reverend  gentleman  went  to  the  different 
pastors  of  the  churches  and  broached  the  subject  to  them,  pic- 
turing the  state  of  Elmira  affairs,  as  they  really  were,  and 
besought  them  to  co-opei-ate  with  him  in  bi'inging  the  matter 
home  to  the  people. 

He  was  received  with  much  interest  and  attention,  and  his 
plan  fully  discussed.  They  were  perfectly  willing  and  ready 
to  join  him  in  his  work  ;  they  fully  agreed  with  him  as  to  the 


FRANCIS    MUEPHY.  705 

crying  necessity  for  reform  in  this  direction  in  their  town  ;  but 
they  could  not  see  how  the  means  were  to  be  obtained  to  con- 
duct a  temperance  movement.  Each  pastor  had  his  own  work 
to  carry  out,  and  each  seemed  doubtful  and  uncertain  as  to  the 
ultimate  result  of  a  temperance  revival.  Nothing  daunted,  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Knox  went  to  the  leading  gentlemen  of  the  place,  and 
laid  the  matter  before  them  for  their  consideration,  pointing  out 
plainly  and  emphatically  how  much  this  thing  was  needed,  and 
how  much  good  would  certainly  be  the  result.  These  gentlemen 
regarded  the  matter  in  a  very  favorable  light,  and  were  posi- 
tive that  if  such  a  movement  were  started  in  Elmira  the  public 
would  receive  it  cordially,  respond  to  it,  and  its  success  would 
be  sure  and  signal.  They  were  not  willing  to  embark  in  it  ; 
but  after  more  talk  they  agreed  to  give  it  all  the  assistance 
they  possibly  could,  if  the  people  received  the  idea  favorably, 
and  the  movement  met  with  favor. 

Mr.  Knox  then  went  cheerily  to  work,  and  opened  a  corres- 
pondence with  the  temperance  advocates  in  Pittsburgh, 
inquiring  their  mode  of  conducting  movements;  if  they  had 
any  special  theories  what  kind  of  men  they  would  send  to 
conduct  Murphy  meetings  in  Elmira,  and  what  the  expenses 
would  be.  The  answers  were  all  satisfactory,  and  the  arrange- 
ments made.  Mr.  Eccles  Robinson,  in  company  with  another 
gentleman,  were  to  be  sent  from  Pittsburgh  to  conduct  the 
movement.  The  former  gentleman  was  a  very  recent  convert 
of  Murphy's,  and  was  commended  in  so  high  a  manner  that 
Mr.  Knox  and  the  other  parties  who  had  interested  themselves 
in  the  cause  were  glad  he  was  the  one  appointed  for  the 
Elmira  work. 

All  the  arrangements  were  made  for  the  reception  of  the 
reformers,  every  one  in  the  city  and  vicinity  was  duly  notified 
through  the  medium  of  frequent  and  extensive  'newspaper 
notices  and  pulpit  announcements  ;  and  considerable  interest 
and  enthusiasm  were  fait  and  manifested.  At  last  informa- 
tion was  received  from  Pittsburgh  that  Mr.  Robinson  and  his 
companion  would  arrive  in  Elmira  in  due  season  to  open  the 
30* 


706  THE   LIFE   AND   WOEK   OP 

meetings  early  in  the  spring  time.  They  were  informed  that 
the  strangers  would  be  in  Elmira  on  March  22.  Forth- 
with preparations  were  made  to  give  them  a  reception, 
and  to  have  a  gathering  of  the  different  members  of  the  laity, 
the  prominent  persons  of  the  place,  and  in  fact  all  those  inter- 
ested in  the  glorious  cause,  in  the  First  Presbyterian  Church. 
The  night  came,  and  with  it  an  immense  concourse  of  people 
to  the  church,  crowding  every  nook  of  that  commodious  edi- 
fice, filling  the  aisles  and  corners  until  it  was  a  perfect  "  jam." 
Such  a  crowd  was  cheering,  and  it  was  plainly  evident  that 
the  Elmirans  were  anxious,  nay  eager,  to  welcome  the  Pitts- 
burgh reformers.  In  the  ante-room  was  displayed  a  scene 
worthy  to  be  made  the  subject  of  a  cartoon  by  the  genius  of 
Thomas  Nast.  The  reverend  gentlemen  were  gathered  to- 
gether and  gesticulating  in  quite  an  excited  manner,  their 
faces  drawn  down  to  serious  length  and  expressive  of  the  ut- 
most consternation,  perplexity  and  dismay.  The  time  ap- 
pointed for  the  commencement  of  the  meeting  had  arrived, 
but  no  Eccles  Robinson  nor  companion,  nobody  from  Pitts- 
burgh. No  information  had  been  received  of  their  arrival  in 
the  city  ;  it  had  been  expressly  given  out  that  they  would 
assuredly  be  present,  and  the  people  had  come  to  welcome 
them.  What  was  to  be  done  ?  Mr.  Knox  in  the  great  emer- 
gency hit  upon  the  only  right  way  out  of  the  dilemma.  He 
called  his  colleagues  to  him  and  said  :  "  We  must  go  out  to  the 
audience  now  ;  we  cannot  stay  here  a  moment  longer.  We'll 
go  out  and  commence  the  meeting  and  render  it  as  interesting 
as  we  possibly  can,  making  no  mention  whatever  of  Eccles 
Robinson  and  his  co-laborer."  They  then  filed  out  of  the 
ante-room,  and  ascended  the  platform.  Mr.  Knox  opened  in 
a  very  happy  address,  thanking  the  people  for  coming  so 
largely  forward  to  the  call  made  to  them,  and  asking  for 
gospel  songs  of  the  most  spirited  and  pleasing  order.  The 
people  entered  into  the  work  with  great  interest  and  enthu- 
siasm ;  the  several  ministers  called  upon  spoke  in  their  most 
felicitous  style — indeed  they  never  spoke  better  than  they  did 


FIANCIS    MURPHY.  707 

that  night — and  time  slipped  by  without  any  special  attention 
being  taken  of  the  non-introduction  of  the  reformers.  The 
audience  evidently  were  under  the  supposition  that  the  latter 
were  seated  with  them,  and  that  not  being  ordained  ministers 
of  the  gospel  they  did  not  occupy  seats  on  the  platform. 
Finally,  when  the  disappointment  could  not  possibly  be  kept 
back  any  longer,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Knox  rose,  and  made  some 
telling  remarks  relative  to  temperance,  and  closed  by  saying  : 
"  But  there  is  one  thing  that  I  do  not  like  about  it,  and  it  is 
something  very  disappointing — Eccles  Robinson  and  his  fel- 
low-worker are  not  here.  We  were  told  they  would  be  here 
surely  ;  but  they  have  not  arrived.  However,  you  must  all 
come  again,  and  the  next  time  we  meet  the  Pittsburgh  reform- 
ers will  have  the  floor  all  to  themselves,  and  the  work  will 
commence.  In  the  meantime,  we  will  have  Brother  Clarke's 
speech.  He  has  one  prepared  especially  for  this  occasion, 
and  he  is  glum  enough  now  because  he  has  not  been  called 
upon.  I  think  we  will  now  have  the  address  of  our  Brother 
Clarke."  Thus  the  immense  audience  was  put  into  a  fine 
humor  ;  and,  on  the  whole,  the  meeting  was  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  enthusiastic  Elmira  had  ever  known. 

After  the  crowd  had  dispersed  the  Rev.  Mr.  Knox  proposed 
to  his  friends  that  they  should  go  to  the  station,  and  see  the 
ten  o'clock  train  come  in.  Perhaps  Eccles  Robinson  and  his 
companion  would  arrive  on  that.  As  they  watched  the  per- 
sons alight  from  the  train  they  signalled  out  a  young  man, 
and  went  up  to  him. 

"  Are  you  Mr.  Eccles  Robinson  ?  "  asked  the  Rev.  Knox. 

"  Yes  ;  I  am  Eccles  Robinson.  I  have  just  got  here.  I  ex- 
pected to  be  here  by  eight  o'clock,  and  it  is  now  past  ten.  I 
am  all  alone.  My  friends  sent  me  by  myself.  I  do  not  know 
why  they  sent  me  here,  I  am  no  orator  ;  I  do  not  know  how 
to  conduct  meetings.  I  feel  I  ought  to  take  the  next  train 
back  home." 

He  spoke  t  ery  despondently,  seemed  embarrassed,  doubtful 
of  himself  and  what  he  was  to  do  in  Elmira,  and  hesitated 


708  THE  LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

about  staying.  The  reverend  gentlemen  reasoned  with  him, 
and  cheered  him  as  best  they  could.  They  finally  succeeded 
in  pursuading  him  to  remain,  and  make  at  least  one  effort  to 
carry  out  a  Murphy  movement.  They  despatched  a  boy  with 
him  to  show  him  the  way  to  his  boarding-place. 

"  I  wonder  what  the  Pittsburgh  people  mean  by  sending  us 
such  a  man,"  said  the  Rev.  Clarke,  as  he  and  his  friend  were 
walking  homeward.  "  For  such  a  work  too.  Why,  he  will 
never  be  able  to  do  any  good,  or  stir  the  people  in  the  cause." 

"  I  am  sure  there  is  something  in  him,"  rejoined  Mr.  Knox. 
"The  Pittsburgh  people  would  not  lie,  and  they  would  not 
have  written  so  favorably  of  him  if  he  were  no  good.  Just 
take  this  letter  from  them  home  with  you,  and  read  what  they 
say  of  him.  We  will  give  Eccles  Robinson  a  chance  anyway. 
I  pray  he  will  make  great  success." 

On  Monday  evening,  March  27,  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  was  crowded  once  more.  It  had  been  announced  that 
the  Murphy  converts  would  appear,  and  then  and  there  open 
the  Murphy  temperance  meetings.  There  was  not  a  vacant 
seat  in  the  building,  nor  was  there  a  nook  empty  where  a 
chair  might  be  placed  to  advantage.  All  the  clergymen  of 
the  town  were  present  on  the  platform,  and  the  prominent 
people  were  there  in  close  proximity  with  those  that  walked 
in  the  lower  ways  of  life.  The  excitement  was  general,  when, 
after  a  most  earnest  prayer,  and  a  beautiful  gospel  song,  Mr. 
Knox  introduced  Eccles  Robinson  to  the  audience  :  the  man 
who  had  come  to  help  them,  to  save  them  from  the  cursed  in- 
fluence of  King  Alcohol.  Heads  were  intently,  eagerly  in- 
clined to  forward,  and  moi'e  than  a  thousand  eyes  were  fixed 
on  one  object,  while  many  hands  clapped  a  rousing,  cheery 
greeting.  They  beheld  a  young  man,  not  over  thirty  years  of 
age,  of  a  very  modest  and  unpretending  appearance  ;  of  a 
slight,  delicate  frame,  and  on  the  whole  of  rather  &  boyish 
carriage. 

He  bowed  his  acknowledgments  to  the  hearty  and  pro- 
longed applause  in  the  stiffest,  most  awkward  fashion  imagin- 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  709 

able,  and  appeared  to  be  exceedingly  embarrassed  and  ill  at 
ease. 

The  church  suddenly  became  as  quite  as  a  tomb.  Every  one 
in- it  was  on  the  qui  vive,  and  waited,  while  they  curiously 
scanned  his  person,  to  hear  him  speak.  Every  one  wondered 
how  he  would  commence,  and  what  he  would  say. 

Blushing,  hanging  his  head  down  on  his  chest,  rivetting  his 
eyes  on  the  platform,  putting  his  hands  in  the  pockets  of  his 
trousers,  and  protruding  his  arms  out  in  a  very  awkward  way, 
he  opened  his  mouth,  and  spoke.  Never  was  so  large  and  so 
select  an  audience  called  forth  to  hear  the  efforts  of  so  em- 
barrassed or  shame-faced  looking  an  individual  before.  The 
people  did  not  know  how  to  take  it,  they  were  so  very  much 
surprised. 

He  spoke  so  timidly  and  so  softly  scarcely  fifty  persons 
could  distinctly  hear  what  he  said.  The  place  became  quieter 
and  quieter,  so  anxious  was  every  one  to  catch  his  words. 

"  I  am  no  orator,"  he  said,  without  lifting  his  eyes.  "  I  do 
not  even  know  how  to  make  a  speech  of  any  kind.  I  do  not 
kno\v  why  they  sent  me  here.  There  were  other  men  that  could 
have  done  far  better  than  I.  I  never  spoke  in  public  before." 

He  paused,  and  then  he  raised  his  head,  and  looked  the 
crowd  full  in  the  face,  while  his  face  fairly  beamed  with  a  look 
that  amazed  every  one  before  him.  "  But,"  he  cried  in  a  ring 
ing  voice,  so  clear  and  distinct  that  the  audience  seemed  spell- 
bound under  it  ;  "I  can  ask  you  to  do  something.  I  can  ask 
you  to  come  up  here  and  take  the  pledge.  I  can  tell  you  that 
it  is  the  only  way  to  be  saved  from  drunkenness,  the  only  way 
to  restore  you  to  your  lost  manhood.  I  can  ask  every  one  of 
you,  men  and  women  and  children,  old  and  young— every  one 
of  you  to  come  here  and  sign  the  blessed  pledge.  There  are 
some  of  you  here  who  are  addicted  to  drink,  some  who  drink 
secretly  thinking  no  one  knows  it,  and  some  who  never  touch 
intoxicants.  All  of  you  come,  and  take  the  pledge.  First, 
let  all  of  the  ministers  come  and  do  so,  for  example's  sake. 
We  want  them  first.  Will  you  come  ?"  And  he  continued  in 


710  THE  LIFE    AND   WORK   OF 

this  strain  until  the  audience  lost  control  of  itself,  and  rushed 
forward  to  the  pledge  tables.  His  talk  went  through  the  peo- 
ple like  an  electric  shock.  He  seemed  to  be  moved  by  some 
higher  power.  He  lost  his  embarrassment  and  his  awkwardness. 
He  greeted  each  person  that  took  the  pledge  in  the  most 
genial  way  ;  and  surprised  all  by  his  affectionate  and  affable 
manner.  The  nervous,  frightened  man  who  had  stood  before 
them  but  a  while  since  was  lost  sight  of  altogether  ;  and  Eccles 
Robinson,  genial,  strong  and  lovable,  one  of  the  stanchest 
of  temperance  advocates,  took  possession  of  the  hearts  of  the 
Elmirans  completely  and  unreservedly.  From  that  memorable 
night  he  was,  to  the  day  he  left,  the  favorite  of  Elmira.  No 
stranger  had  ever  made  so  favorable  an  impression,  or  suc- 
ceeded in  enlisting  every  one  in  his  favor  as  he.  And  he  did 
this  unconsciously.  His  work  was  from  the  veiy  outset  sur- 
prisingly successful. 

The  people  took  the  matter  up  with  more  zeal  and  enthu- 
siasm than  even  those  deeply  interested  in  the  noble  cause 
dreamed  of  or  expected  from  them.  It  swept  over  the  place 
like  an  immense  wave,  carrying  all  things  before  and  with 
it.  It  was  the  theme  of  conversation  in  every  part  of 
the  town,  no  matter  where  one  went.  No  one  had  anything 
to  discuss  but  the  subject  of  total  abstinence  ;  and  that  was 
discussed  at  all  times  and  in  all  places.  The  churches  entered 
largely  into  the  excitement,  and  did  nobly.  Meetings  were 
held  three  and  four  times  a  day.  In  a  short  space  of  time  it 
was  found  absolutely  necessary  that  a  local  committee  should 
be  organized  to  conduct  the  work.  It  was  utterly  impossible 
to  go  on  with  it  unless  there  was  some  such  organization  ;  so 
the  temperance  advocates  met,  and  formed  a  local  committee, 
of  which  the  Rev.  W.  E.  Knox  was  unanimously  elected  presi- 
dent. 

Here  was  the  right  man  in  the  right  place.  Their  choice  of 
a  president  could  not  have  been  more  wise  ;  and  most  nobly 
and  successfully  did  he  occupy  and  fulfill  his  very  important 
position. 


FEANCIS    MUEPHY.  711 

The  temperance  wave  swept  over  the  whole  town,  and  ex- 
tended to  the  neighboring  places.  The  churches  were  soon 
found  perfectly  incapable  of  containing  the  great  crowds  that 
rushed  to  hear  the  telling  words  that  fell  like  so  many  spark- 
ling drops  of  healing  water  from  the  lips  of  Eccles  Robinson. 
Some  building  large  enough  to  accommodate  all  who  came  to 
hear  him  must  be  engaged  ;  so  the  Opera  House,  the  largest 
auditorium  in  Elmira,  was  called  into  use,  and  answered  the 
purpose  admirably.  The  crowds  that  filled  this  edifice  were 
vast.  Hours  before  the  meetings  commenced  the  street  was 
thronged,  blockaded,  in  fact,  by  excited  people,  who  willingly 
stood  their  ground  until  the  doors  were  flung  open  to  them. 
It  was  hardly  safe  to  be  in  the  rush  when  the  doors  were 
opened  ;  and  if  you  escaped  with  only  a  sore  feeling  and 
rather  dishevelled  appearance,  it  was  a  piece  of  good  fortune. 

In  'this  building  scenes  were  enacted  that  might  fill  a  large 
duodecimo  volume  with  highly  interesting  matter  of  every 
phase,  from  the  pathetic  to  the  humorous,  and  from  the  grave 
to  the  inspired.  The  people  were  carried  entirely  away  with 
the  movement  as  they  had  been  in  other  places,  and  responded 
to  the  call  to  free  themselves  from  the  evil  of  intoxicating 
drink  in  a  manner  that  was  more  than  surprising,  arousing  the 
most  callous  and  indifferent  into  positive  enthusiasm,  and  com- 
pelling them  to  do  likewise.  Little  children  would  hurry  to 
the  pledge  tables  and  sign  the  pledge  ;  women  and  men  pressed 
forward  eagerly  to  annex  their  signatures.  Men  tottering  near 
the  grave,  with  hair  and  beard  white  as  the  driven  snow  with 
Time's  touch,  would  rise,  and  confess  to  listening  multitudes 
that  they  had  had  an  intimate  association  with  King  Alcohol 
for  upwards  of  thirty  or  forty  years  ;  and  rejoiced  greatly  now 
at  being  able  to  say  they  saw  the  right  and  only  way  to  hap- 
piness and  prosperity,  and  were  able  to  testify  to  the  manifold 
pains  and  ti'ials  a  strong  appetite  for  liquor  had  brought  home 
to  them.  Men  flushed  with  youth  and  glowing  manhood 
would  take  the  pledge  and  promise  to  keep  it,  their  eyes,  unac- 
customed to  tears,  wet  and  downcast,  and  go  to  their  happy 


712  THE    LIFE   AND   WOKK   OF 

mothers    or    wives   with   fast   throbbing    heart    ar.d    joyful 
mien. 

Such  scenes  were  never  witnessed  in  the  city  of  Elmira 
before  ;  and  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  whole  place  was  so 
affected,  roused  to  the  wildest  enthusiasm  and  excitement.  In 
one  week  there  were  1,886  signers  of  the  Murphy  pledge. 
Thus,  it  will  be  readily  comprehended  what  a  great  movement 
it  was,  and  how  heartily  the  people  embraced  it.  Undoubtedly 
the  presence  of  God  was  with,  it  from  first  to  last. 

One  evening  the  list  of  signers  was  unrolled  before  an  im- 
mense audience  in  the  Opera  House.  It  was  sixty  feet  long, 
and  reached  more  than  half  way  across  the  stage  ;  and  some 
portion  of  the  paper  was  written  on  both  sides.  What  a 
burst  of  applause  was  sent  up  at  the  sight. 

The  interest  and  enthusiasm  in  the  temperance  wave  was  not 
wholly  confined  to  Elmira  ;  but  extended  to  all  the  neighbor- 
ing towns,  creating  the  same  results  as  in  other  places.  In  the 
town  of  Corning  the  enthusiasm  was  intense.  Four  hundred 
and  twenty  persons  signed  the  pledge  one  evening  at  this 
place  ;  and  in  a  few  weeks  there  were  seven  hundred  on  the 
list.  At  Jamestown  the  total  number  was  5,066  ;  and  two 
weeks  only  in  the  town  of  Havana  secured  390  signers.  Hor- 
nellsville  in  two  evenings  had  1,000  names  appended  to  the 
pledge.  The  population  of  Tioga  County  is  40,000  ;  there 
were  30,000  persons  who  took  the  pledge.  In  Elmira  there 
were  over  7,000  signers.  These  statistics  show  what  a  re 
markable  work  it  was.  Never  had  such  an  universal  excitement 
been  known  in  that  region  of  New  York  State  ;  and  it  has  not 
ceased  yet  to  be  a  wonder  to  all  who  calmly  consider  the  mat- 
ter in  all  its  phases.  It  was  as  if  God  had  sent  the  movement 
there,  and  caused  all  to  recognize  it  in  its  true  character.  It 
was  esteemed  an  honor  to  be  a  pledge-taker,  and  a  privilege  to 
attend  the  meetings.  The  different  clergymen  did  great  work, 
and  pushed  the  movement  on  extensively.  The  local  reformed 
men  were  able  co-laborers. 

The  two  prominent  local  figures  in  the  crowd  that  gathered 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  713 

round  Eccles  Robinson,  and  assisted  him  in  his  grand  and 
good  work,  were  W.  H.  Maxwell,  better  known  as  "  Billy," 
and  Colonel  Luther  Caldwell,  the  former  proprietor  of  the 
Rathbun  House.  The  former  gentleman  is  connected  with  the 
Elmira  Advertiser.  He  springs  from  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  aristocratic  families  of  southern  New  York,  a  family 
noted  at  home  and  abroad  for  their  ability,  wealth  and  high 
social  position.  His  father  had  been  an  honorable  representa- 
tive at  Washington,  and  was  a  man  esteemed  for  the  noble 
qualities  of  both  his  mind  and  person.  "  Billy's"  home  was 
one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  comfortable  in  the  whole  sec- 
tion. He  received  all  the  educational  advantages  wealth  could 
procure  ;  and  every  wish  he  expressed  was  gratified.  Early  in 
life,  when  he  was  but  a  child,  he  contracted  a  strong  taste  for 
intoxicating  liquors,  which  eventually  proved  his  ruin.  Not- 
withstanding the  position  his  family  occupied  and  the  honor- 
able name  he  bore,  he  commenced  a  life  of  recklessness,  and 
led  it  for  certainly  twenty-five  years  or  more.  There  was  not 
a  person  in  Elmira  or  vicinity  as  low  or  as  degraded  as  he 
was.  From  his  high  position  he  sank  to  such  a  low  depth  that 
society  could  not  notice  him  in  any  way.  It  was  almost  an 
hourly  occurrence  to  see  him  reeling  through  the  streets  under 
the  influence  of  liquor.  His  devoted  wife's  prayers  and  tears 
seemed  to  be  of  no  avail  ;  but  she  never  gave  way  to  despair. 
She  would  follow  him  from  place  to  place,  and  scarcely  ever 
let  him  out  of  her  sight.  Finally,  after  many  years  of  patient 
waiting,  she  received  her  reward — he  came  to  realize  the  awful 
results  of  the  course  he  was  pursuing,  and  promised  her  to  try 
and  abstain.  That  was  about  a  year  and  a  half  before  Eccles 
Robinson  came  to  Elmira  and  started  the  Murphy  movement 

When,  however,  the  movement  was  started,  he  entered  into 
it  with  all  his  heart  and  soul,  and  gave  up  everything  so  that 
he  might  work  zealously  in  the  cause,  and  fui'ther  its  success. 

No  one  was  so  prominent,  after  Eccles  Robinson,  in  the 
Elmira  movement  as  he  ;  and  no  one  was  more  successful.  His 
speeches  were  forcible,  attractive,  and  telling  ;  and  the  an- 


714  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

nouncement  of  his  name  was  sufficient  inducement  to  attract 
an  immense  crowd  to  hear  him.  The  good  he  has  done  in  El- 
rmp&  and  the  neighboring  towns  cannot  be  possibly  estimated; 
but  the  name  of  "  Billy  "  Maxwell  will  live  forever  in  the 
minds  of  hundreds  who  were  led  by  him  into  the  only  true  path. 

"  I  was  drunk  thirty  years,"  says  Maxwell,  in  one  of  his 
temperance  lectures.  "  I  have  had  the  delirium  tremens  six 
times,  and  been  in  a  county  jail  in  every  State  in  the  Union 
but  six,  for  drunkenness."  It  was  through  his  efforts  that  not 
a  drunken  man  was  seen  in  Hornellsville,  at  the  time  of  the 
Erie  strike. 

Col.  Luther  Caldwell  became  deeply  interested  in  the  tem- 
perance movement  in  Elmira,  and  worked  steadily  in  it  side  by 
side  with  Eccles  Robinson  and  W.  E.  Maxwell.  He  gave  up 
the  Rathbun  House,  so  that  his  time  could  be  only  devoted  to 
the  cause  of  temperance  ;  and  he  is  now  going  from  place  to 
place  to  address  people  on  the  subject.  On  one  occasion  he 
read  the  following  letter  from  his  daughter,  to  one  of  the 
largest  audiences  that  ever  filled  the  Opera  House,  and  re- 
ceived a  perfect  storm  of  applause  : 

WASHINGTON  CITY,  April  3, 1877. 
My  dear,  dear  Father  : 

Oh  !  I  am  so  glad  to  hear  of  your  signing  the  pledge.  It 
was  a  blessed  good  thing  to  do,  and  a  good  day  to  do  it  on. 
Pa,  there  is  one  thing  else  that  I  want  you  to  do,  that  is  to 
join  the  church.  You  can  do  so.  You  do  believe  Jesus  died 
for  you.  You  know  he  did,  and  all  that  you  or  any  one  else 
can  do  is  just  to  believe  that,  and  strive  with  all  their  might 
and  God's  help  to  do  right,  and  not  to  do  anything  wrong.  I 
just  hope  that  the  next  time  I  hear  from  you  that  shall  be  the 
good  news  I  shall  hear.  I  have  been  praying  for  it  for  almost 
a  year  now,  and  I  know  I  shall  get  an  answer  some  time  to 
that  prayer.  God  will  bless  you  for  what  you  did  on  Sunday. 
I  am  so  glad.  I  hope  and  believe  Cush  and  the  boys  will  fol- 
low your  good  example.  With  lots  of  love, 

Tour  daughter,          LINA  GUSHING. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  715 

The  colonel  said  in  one  of  his  temperance  addresses 
that  he  was  willing  to  tell  what  had  prompted  him  to 
come  out  for  total  abstinence.  He  had  made  up  his  mind 
that  it  was  about  time  for  him  to  stop  drinking.  He  had  felt 
that  it  was  in  the  very  air,  for  some  time,  a  kind  of  strange 
influence.  He  had  not  been  one  to  stand  back  when  invited 
up  to  the  bar — on  the  contrary,  he  had  been  rather  inclined  to 
"  keep  up  his  end  of  the  log."  He  had  with  others  practiced 
drinking,  the  while  feeling  sorry  to  see  the  intemperance.  He 
presumed  the  rest  of  his  friends  were  thinking  about  the  same 
way.  He  spoke  of  the  continued  resolutions  he  had  made  to 
stop  drinking,  but  he  could  not  keep  a  promise  made  to  him- 
self, wife  and  friends.  The  days  on  which  he  struggled  hard- 
est to  refrain,  he  drank  the  most.  But  when  he  went  up, 
marching  down  before  a  whole  audience  in  Elmira,  to  sign  the 
pledge,  he  knew  he  could  keep  it.  That  was  the  open  avowal. 
Moderate  drinkers  become  immoderate,  and  the  immoderate 
become  drunkards.  There  was  no  argument  about  it  ;  it  was 
simply  a  matter  of  will.  He  knew  he  was  on  the  road  to 
drunkenness,  and  so  he  signed  his  name  to  the  Murphy  pledge. 
"  With  Malice  towards  none,  and  Charity  for  all,"  and 
"clothed  in  his  right  mind,"  he  went  into  the  movement 
and  took  up  the  banner  of  temperance,  and  began  to  walk  in 
the  way  made  so  straight,  clear  and  shining  by  the  noble  host 
of  men  who  had  gone  before. 

Colonel  Caldwell  has  turned  his  hand  to  song  writing. 
The  following  fairly  illustrates  his  literary  style,  and  also 
the  conspicuousness  of  the  blue-ribbon  insignia  in  the  move- 
ment : 

"  God  helping  me,"  the  drinker  said, 
And  trembling  signed  the  Murphy  pledge. 
Poor  Peter  cried,  "Oh!  Jesus,  save, 
Or  else  I  sink  beneath  the  wave !  " 

Oh!  blessed  pledge,  oh,  holy  word  I 

It  has  in  sorrow  oft  been  heard. 


716  THE   LIFE   AND   WOKK   OP 

The  Saviour  lifts  poor  Peter  up 
And  saves  the  drinker  from  his  cup. 
"God  helping  me,"  by  faith  I  cry, 
And  the  dear  Saviour  cometh  nigh ; 

So  the  blue-ribbon  which  we  wear 

Shall  be  a  signal  and  a  prayer. 

The  loving  hand,  dear  Jesus,  give, 

And  bid  the  fallen  brother  live. 

Oh !  gracious  Lord,  come  near  each  day, 

To  lead  us  in  the  better  way ; 

And  the  blue-ribbon  e'er  shall  be 
A  signal  that  "God  is  helping  me." 

Another  earnest  worker  in  the  cause  was  Mr.  P.ittison. 
Reformed  through  the  influence  of  Eccles  Robinson  he  entered 
the  lists  and  did  untold  good.  His  name  has  become  known 
to  all.  The  employees  of  the  Erie  railroad  signed  the  pledge, 
as  well  as  those  of  the  post-office,  in  the  earlier  days  of  the 
movement,  and  were  greeted  with  deafening  applause  and 
cheers. 

The  "  76  "  Social  Club,  composed  of  the  leading  young  men 
of  the  place,  followed  the  good  examples,  and  signed  the 
pledge  in  a  body.  Thirty  members  of  the  Hook  and  Ladder, 
and  one  hundred  and  twelve  Odd  Fellows  were  not  to  be 
beaten,  and  did  likewise. 

The  following  telling  speech  was  made  by  an  Elmiran  in 
the  Opera  House  : 

"Two  weeks  ago  I  was  drinking  myself  drunk  in  a  saloon 
in  Elmira.  I  called  for  still  another  glass  and  the  saloon 
keeper  said, '  Young  man,  you  have  had  enough,  you  had  better 
go  and  sign  the  Murphy  pledge.'  I  took  him  at  his  word,  and 
walked  out  with  his  warning  ringing  in  his  ears.  I  signed  the 
pledge,  and  such  joy  as  I  have  known  for  two  weeks  !  But  I 
feel  that  I  need  something  that  is  still  higher  and  better. 
Pray  for  me  that  I  may  become  a  true  Christian." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  movement  was 


FRANCIS    MURPHY,  717 

the  Sunday  service  Messrs.  Kenfield  and  Farwell  conducted,  a 
temperance  meeting  in  the  jail  for  the  benefit  of  the  prisoners. 
Out  of  the  twenty-five  confined  men  seventeen  signed  the 
pledge.  There  was  no  blue  ribbon  to  give  the  poor  fellows  ; 
so  the  ladies  who  were  present  kindly  cut  enough  of  the  color 
from  what  they  wore.  In  this  way  there  was  found 
sufficient  of  that  "  true "  color  to  adorn  the  ugly  prison 
apparel. 

Before  many  weeks  had  passed  it  was  found  to  be  an  im- 
perative matter  that  a  permanent  place  should  be  rented  where 
temperance  could  have  a  home.  All  the  leading  gentlemen 
and  ladies  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  thing  ;  and  the  result 
of  the  several  meetings  was  that  the  hall,  corner  of  Lake  and 
Carroll  streets,  was  secured  for  the  much  desired  purpose. 
The  ladies  decorated  the  hall  neatly  and  tastefully  with  appro- 
priate mottoes.  On  one  side  of  the  room  the  eye  was  di-awn  to 
"  Malice  towards  none  and  Charity  for  all,"  worked  in  ever- 
greens ;  and  on  another  side  "Blessed  are  the  Poor  in  Spirit." 
Above  the  platform  was  hung  a  most  faithful  and  excellent 
portrait,  handsomely  framed,  of  Eccles  Robinson,  the  father 
of  the  Elmira  movement.  An  elegant  water-cooler  of  britan- 
riia  ware,  and  a  silver  vase  of  unique  design  standing  on  a 
walnut  bracket  under  the  portrait,  added  to  the  place  a  cerlain 
nameless  grace  and  charm  very  suggestive  of  woman's  beauti- 
fying presence.  Here  was  the  home  and  the  headquarters  of 
temperance,  and  the  scene  of  the  labors  of  its  earnest  and 
valiant  advocates.  Meetings  were  here  held  four  and  some- 
times six  times  a  day,  meetings  ripe  in  promise  and  fruition, 
and  which  will  always  form  an  important  part  of  the  Elmira 
annals. 

The  interest  and  enthusiasm  became  of  so  intense  a  char- 
acter,  as  the  movement  progressed,  that  demands  had  to  be 
made  on  the  "  Smoky  City  "  for  more  reformers.  The  call 
was  heartily  responded  to,  and  men  were  sent  who  did  a  vast 
deal  of  good.  There  was,  however,  a  longing  desire  to  see 
and  hear  the  great  man  who  had  originated  this  wave.  There 


718  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK  OF 

was  an  universal  cry  for  Francis  Murphy.  In  almost  every 
speech  made  to  the  people,  his  name  was  mentioned  with  the 
most  loving  and  reverend  of  tones  ;  and  Eccles  Robinson 
would  say,  continually  :  "  You  all  should  see  the  man  who 
reformed  me.  He  is  so  good,  so  grand."  At  last  arrange- 
ments were  completed  to  bring  him  in  their  midst.  The 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  engaged  him  to  deliver  a 
lecture  at  the  Opera  House.  Early  in  the  month  of  May  the 
following  characteristic  letter  was  received  from  the  great 
temperance  apostle  : 

"  My  dear  Brother  :— Your  favor  is  at  hand.  It  is  all  right 
for  Elmira,  Tuesday,  May  22.  God  help  you.  Will  let  you 
know  to-morrow  by  what  train  I  shall  arrive  in  your  city  on 
Monday  night.  Love  to  all  the  people. 

"  P.  S.     The  work  goes  bravely  on  in  Philadelphia. 

"FRANCIS  MURPHY." 

This  announcement  was  made  to  the  people,  and  caused 
general  excitement.  Every  one  was  on  the  alert  to  see  the 
man  who  had  made  so  great  a  stir  in  society,  and  was  spoken 
of  wherever  one  went,  and  whose  name  was  a  constant  theme 
for  newspaper  gossip. 

He  came,  and  completely  conquered.  The  Opera  House  was 
crowded  ;  and  the  lecturer  was  received  with  great  fervor.  He 
told  in  his  usual,  and  so  well  known  way,  the  story  of  his  life, 
eliciting  tears  and  sobs  in  one  breath,  and  roars  of  laughter  in 
another.  A  most  touching  incident  of  the  evening  was  the 
reply  he  made  to  a  gentleman  in  the  audience  who  asked  him 
if  his  mother  lived  to  witness  his  reformation.  When  the 
great  reformer  said  no,  but  told  sadly  of  his  mother's  death 
shortly  after  her  arrival  in  this  country,  whither  she  had  come 
to  see  her  dear  boy,  there  was  many  a  tear  escaped  from  the 
control  of  its  possessor,  and  hard  were  the  efforts  made  to 
keep  back  the  flowing  tide  of  sympathy.  He  stormed  the 
town  ;  and  the  demand  was  so  great  to  hear  him  that  he  was 
obliged  to  visit  Elmira  again,  which  he  did  Tuesday,  June 
20.  •  On  both  occasions  he  made  a  most  favorable  and 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  V19 

marked  impression.  He,  however,  was  not  the  father  of  the 
Elmira  movement  ;  he  only  delivered  a  few  addresses  to  the 
thousands  who  went  to  hear  him.  All  honor  and  praise  must 
be  credited  to  Eccles  Robinson.  It  was  purely  and  wholly  his 
work  from  first  to  last.  The  people  accepted  him  as  their  re- 
former ;  and  he  proved  himself  that.  It  will  be  interesting  to 
here  tell  the  kind  reader  how  Eccles  Robinson  was  converted. 
We  will  quote  his  own  graphic  words  : 

"  There  were  four  young  men  just  beginning  the  study  of 
law  in  Pittsburg.  They  were  all  of  them  members  of  families 
of  respectability  and  property,  with  fair  talents  and  good  pros- 
pects. One  evening  one  of  them  said,  *  Let  us  have  a  bottle  of 
wine  together.'  Another  said,  '  Boys,  who  knows,  if  we  should, 
how  it  will  interfere  with  our  studies.  May  be  will  not  get  as 
far  as  the  practice  of  the  law  ?'  They  laughed  and  sent  for 
the  wine.  While  drinking  and  beginning  to  feel  good,  an  old 
beggar  put  his  head  within  the  door  and  asked  them  for  some 
money.  They  rallied  him  for  his  appearance  and  interruption 
of  their  festivities,  but  tossed  him  a  small  piece  of  coin,  and  as 
he  turned  away,  he  said  :  *  Young  man,  the  time  may  come 
when  you  will  be  around  begging  for  a  dime,  as  I  am  to-night.' 

"  And  as  sure  as  one  bottle  after  another  came  to  their  rooms 
did  that  time  come  to  those  young  men.  Three  of  them  lie 
to-night  in  drunkards'  graves ;  one  of  them  still  reels  about 
the  streets  of  Pittsburgh.  I  only  am  escaped  out  of  the  depths 
of  drunkenness  to  tell  you  this  true  story.  Young  men,  come 
up  here  and  sign  the  pledge.  It  is  better  to  sign  the  Murphy 
pledge  than  to  wallow  in  the  ditch  or  lie  down  on  saw-dust 
floors." 

Eccles  Robinson  was  a  member  of  one  of  the  oldest  ana 
most  influential  Pennsylvania  families.  He  entered  the"  col- 
lege at  Princeton,  and  after  being  there  a  short  while  was  ex- 
pelled on  account  of  his  wild  spirits. 

"  He  commenced  to  drink  when  quite  young,  and  soon  got  en- 
tirely under  the  influence  of  liquor.  He  became  well  known  in 
the  "  Sm  >ky  City "  as  one  of  the  worst,  if  not  the  worst, 


720  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

drunkards  in  the  whole  place.  While  he  was  drinking  in  a 
saloon  one  day,  a  gentleman  entered,  and  looking  around  the 
room,  saw  him.  He  approached  him,  and  asked  politely  : 

"  Are  you  Mr.  Eccles  Robinson  ?  " 

Mr.  Robinson  felt  as  if  some  one  had  shaken  him.  It  was 
the  first  time  in  many  a  long  day  that  he  had  been  kindly 
spoken  to  ;  the  first  time  in  years  he  was  addressed  as  "  Mr." 

"  Yes  ;  I  am  Eccles  Robinson,"  he  said  shortly,  more  to  hide 
his  feelings  than  anything  else. 

"I  want  you  to  come  to  my  meetings,"  the  gentleman  said 
kindly  ;  "  I  am  Francis  Murphy.  Will  you  come  ?  " 

"  No." 

"  But  I  want  you  to  come.  It  will  do  you  good,  and  you 
will  like  it.  Wouldn't  you  like  to  be  as  you  were  before  you 
commenced  drinking  ?  " 

"  Yes  ;  I  would."  And  something  rose  up  in  the  breast  of 
Eccles  Robinson,  and  dimmed  his  eyes.  His  conscience 
awoke.  A  few  kind  words  had  done  the  work.  Ah,  a  gentle 
word  is  a  powerful  thing  when  used  to  those  who  have  been 
strangers  to  it  !  It  was  seldom  that  Eccles  Robinson  was 
spoken  to  thus.  "  You  will  be  restored  to  your  manhood," 
said  Mr.  Murphy  earnestly  ;  "  and  all  will  be  well  with  you  it 
you  only  sign  my  pledge.  Come  to  me  to-night  ?  " 

The  promise  was  given.  That  evening  Mr.  Murphy  looked 
for  his  friend  in  the  hall,  and  found  him.  Never  had  he  flung 
so  much  fervor  in  his  work  as  he  did  that  night.  Eccles  Robin- 
son was  aroused,  amazed  ;  and  realized  his  present  position. 
He  plainly  saw  what  frightful  risks  he  ran,  and  what  an  awful 
end  awaited  him.  He  signed  the  pledge.  As  he  did  so  Mr, 
Murphy  stooped  down,  held  out  his  hand,  and  said  : 

"  I  want  you  to  come  up  here  beside  me."  The  new  convert 
went  on  the  stage.  "  I  want  you  to  tell  the  people 
your  experience,"  he  said.  The  convert  looked  at  the 
sea  of  faces,  and  shrank  back  frightened  and  embar- 
rassed. He  could  not  do  it.  "  Then  kneel  down,  and  pray 
to  God  to  help  you  keep  your  pledge."  "I  can't."  "Don't 


FRANCIS    MUKPHT.  721 

you  want  to  keep  it  ?  "  "  Yes."  "  Well,  then,  pray."  Eccles 
Robinson  had  not  said  a  prayer  for  a  number  of  years.  The 
time  when  he  used  to  kneel  and  pray  to  God  seemed  as  some 
strange  dream.  He  knelt  down  ;  and  with  wildly  throbbing 
heart,  before  that  immense  crowd  of  people,  begged  the 
Heavenly  assistance  and  protection.  It  was  a  simple  little 
prayer.  The  audience  was  so  hushed  you  could  almost  count 
your  heart-beats.  From  that  never-to-be-forgotten  night 
the  desire  for  intoxicating  drink  left  him  ;  and  Eccles  Robin- 
son was  a  saved  man — snatched  from  the  road  of  sin  to  walk 
along  the  way  of  right  and  truth,  to  save  and  redeem  others 
from  a  dreadful  end.  He  entered  so  completely  into  the  warm 
affection  of  the  Elmirans  that  before  he  left  them  for  other 
fields  of  usefulness  they  agreed  to  tender  him  a  benefit.  He 
had  not  been  paid  for  his  work  among  them  ;  it  had  been 
purely  a  matter  of  duty  and  love. 

The  occasion  was  a  most  interesting  one.  A  great  crowd 
greeted  him  ;  many  felicitous  speeches  were  made  ;  and  it  was 
altogether  a  most  joyous  and  delightful  evening.  He  was  pre- 
sented, among  other  "good"  things,  with  a  very  elegant  gold 
cross — an  appropriate  gift,  as  he  had  taken  it  up  and  was 
walking  under  its  gracious  load  straight  towards  the  golden 
gates  of  heaven.  "  May  the  richest  blessings  of  God  rest  upon 
Eccles  Robinson,"  is  the  prayer  to-day  of  the  people  of  Elmira. 

The  temperance  wave  reached  Utica,  N.  Y.,  and  swept  over 
it  with  grand  results,  as  the  following  article  graphically  shows  : 

"  The  temperance  tidal  wave  has  reached  Utica.  This  is 
evident  to  every  one  who  has  noticed  the  crowd  attending  the 
temperance  lectures  at  Mechanics'  Hall  nightly,  and  the  blue 
ribbons  worn  upon  the  street.  Saturday  evening  another  large 
meeting  was  held  at  Mechanics'  Hall.  Prof.  Evans  spoke  to 
workingmen  especially,  his  subject  being  "  Saturday  Xight." 
He  dwelt  particularly  on  the  folly  shown  by  many  in  working 
hard  all  the  week,  and  spending  the  fruit  of  their  labor  in 
drink  in  a  few  short  hours  on  Saturday  night.  The  good  re. 
suits  of  signing  the  pledge  and  turning  the  week's  earnings 
31 


722  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

into  their  proper  channel  were  also  shown.  After  the  address 
about  one  hundred  signatures  to  the  temperance  pledge  were 
obtained. 

"  The  tempei'anee  meeting  at  the  Opera  House,  yesterday 
afternoon,  was  a  source  of  surprise  to  everybody.  It  had  been 
announced  to  begin  at  3:30  P.  M.,  but  at  that  time  every  seat 
in  the  house  was  filled,  all  standing  room  in  the  aisles  and 
around  the  side  of  the  room,  both  on  the  lower  floor  and  gal- 
lery, was  occupied,  while  a  large  number  found  seats  on  the 
stage.  From  3:30  to  4  P.  M.,  hundreds  of  people  came  to  the 
hall,  only  to  be  turned  away  for  want  of  room.  Over  two 
thousand  persons  were  present.  Revs.  L.  D.  White,  R.  G. 
Jones,  Rev.  Dr.  P.  H.  Fowler  and  Captain  L.  Moore,  of  Utica, 
and  Rev.  J.  H.  Lamb,  of  Madison,  occupied  seats  on  the  stage. 
The  meeting  was  opened  with  singing  and  brief  remarks  by 
Rev.  L.  D.  White.  Prof.  Evans  read  the  parable  of  the  prod- 
igal son,  putting  an  earnestness  seldom  heard  into  his  words. 
He  then  proceeded  to  speak  on  the  subject,  dwelling  especially 
on  the  sin  of  drunkenness.  His  mission,  he  said,  was  to  try 
and  arouse  a  sentiment  that  shall  bring  prodigals  to  themselves 
and  home.  He  explained  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son,  in 
simple  yet  earnest,  and  often  beautiful  language,  applying  the 
lesson  at  different  points  to  those  who  act  the  same  part  to-day. 
The  base  ingratitude  of  the  pi-odigal  was  shown  by  a  picture 
of  a  young  man  leaving  home,  depicted  in  well-chosen  words, 
showing  the  depth  of  filial  affection.  The  downfall  of  a 
young  man  living  a  fast  life  was  also  vividly  portrayed.  The 
prodigal  of  old,  after  his  fall,  would  fain  fill  himself  with  the 
husks  the  swine  did  eat.  The  prodigal  to-day  having  spent 
his  money  in  riotous  living,  his  friends  cut  him,  and  he  waits 
around  on  the  outside  of  the  crowd  to  be  asked  to  drink.  He 
is  also  after  husks.  When  his  money  is  gone  he  is  told  he  may 
sweep  out  the  saloon  for  his  drink ;  he  has  become  a  swineherd. 
The  pi'odigal  of  old  was  too  noble  to  steal,  too  manly  to  beg, 
and  hail  sense  enough  to  realize  his  position  and  resolve  to  go 
back  to  his  father's  house  and  make  the  best  of  it.  The 


FRANCIS    MUEPHY.  723 

father's. anxiety  over  his  absence  and  joy  at  his  return  were 
forcibly  presented  in  words  and  gestures.  Like  the  brother 
who  was  angered  at  the  reception  given  to  the  prodigal,  there 
are  many  to-day,  who,  if  they  cannot  be  at  the  head  of  a  pro- 
ject when  invited  to  participate,  turn  and  say,  '  I  won't.'  Oh, 
for  a  time  when  we  can  forget  sectional  differences  !  '  We 
ask  you  all,  irrespective  of  creed  or  belief,  to  join  this  move- 
ment. We  desire  the  co-operation  of  the  churches  to  bring 
those  who  are  without  into  the  fold.  It  is  a  glorious  work  for 
humanity.  Every  man  who  is  saved  begins  to  live  aright.  He 
pays  his  debts  and  his  money  goes  into  proper  channels. 
Every  man  who  is  reformed,  is  saved  for  the  community  and 
church  as  well  as  for  himself.  Give  us  your  hand,  your  heart 
and  your  voice  to  aid  in  this  movement.  The  work  will  have 
to  be  taken  up  and  carried  forward  in  a  systematic  manner. 
It  is  my  prayer  that  the  work  may  go  forward  until  every  man 
in  the  city  shall  stand  on  a  higher  plane  than  he  did  before.' 

"  James  G.  Clark  sang  one  of  his  songs,  and  in  response  to 
an  encore  sang  '  Ninety  and  Nine.' 

"  Rev.  L.  D.  White  then  spoke  in  relation  to  the  continuance 
of  the  meetings.  He  said  that  in  obedience  to  public  senti- 
ment, meetings  would  be  held  in  the  Opera  House  every  even- 
ing this  week,  with  the  exception  of  Wednesday,  when  the 
house  will  be  otherwise  occupied.  The  meetings  have  been 
inaugurated  on  the  conviction  that  there  is  a  sentiment,  will 
and  money  in  the  community  to  carry  them  on. 

"  Mr.  Clark  sang  a  temperance  song,  '  Dare  to  Say  No,'  which 
was  enthusiastically  applauded. 

"  Those  desiring  to  do  so  were  invited  to  come  and  sign  the 
pledge,  and  250  responded  to  the  invitation,  making  350  sig- 
natui'es  obtained  in  two  days. 

"  There  will  be  a  temperance  prayer-meeting  at  the  Opera 
House,  between  12  and  1  P.  M.,  to-day.  Entrance,  for  thia 
session  only,  will  be  through  the  Washington  street  stairway. 
The  movement  is  increasing  in  popularity  from  day  to  day." 

William  M.  Evans  was  the  main  worker  of  the  Utica  tern 


724  THE  LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

perance  movement.  Sent  here  from  the  headquarters  he 
worked  nobly  ;  but  we  will  let  the  gentleman  himself  give 
the  kind  reader  an  idea  of  his  success  in  a  letter  of  his  to  the 
Pittsburgh  Temperance  Ensign  : 

"  UTICA,  K  Y. 

"Editor  Ensign : — I  have  been  here  now  six  weeks  to-night, 
and  have  secured  over  6,000  signers.  The  enthusiasm  is  in- 
tense. Some  nights  I  have  been  compelled  to  attend  three 
meetings,  being  driven  from  one  to  another,  and  people  fol- 
lowing. I  expect  to  organize  a  central  union  and  four  or  five 
auxiliaries  during  the  coming  weeek,  and  intend  to  keep  the 
fires  burning  over  the  holidays,  when  I  shall  have  to  leave  the 
unions  to  take  care  of  themselves.  I  have  engagements  to 
lecture  in  Dunkirk,  Titusville,  and  many  places  in  New  York. 
I  may  be  with  you  for  one  night.  I  had  a  grand  benefit  on 
Wednesday  night,  over  1,100  people  being  present.  I  had 
splendid  floral  offerings.  I  am  getting  invitations  for  next 
winter's  lecture  course.  John  B.  Gough  voluntarily  indorsed 
me  here  and  at  Rome,  and  the  lecture  committee  have  told 
me  I  must  take  his  place  next  season,  as  he  will  be  in  Europe. 
I  have  my  lectures  under  preparation.  I  am  writing  this  after 
having  spoken  one  hour  and  secured  over  200  signers.  To- 
morrow evening  I  shall  have  an  audience  of  over  2,000  in  the 
Opera  House,  and  I  shall  present  the  claims  of  the  Union.  I 
am  pleased  to  read  your  paper's  goodly  news  of  temperance,  and 
hope  the  good  cause  will  steadily  go  on  until  our  land  shall 
be  free  from  the  curse  of  alcohol.  WM.  MASON  EVANS." 

We  take  pleasure  in  placing  the  following  very  interesting 
account  before  our  readers  as  it  graphically  tells  of  the  glori- 
ous work  in  the  city  of  Utica,  and  gives  a  faithful  idea  of  the 
reception  the  people  gave  the  cause.  We  print  these  fresh 
and  living  photographs  of  the  grand  effects  of  the  Murphy 
reform,  because,  written  on  the  spot,  they  are  instinct  with  the 
feeling  and  atmosphere,  which  transfigured  society  into  some- 
thing brighter  and  better,  and  paint  with  more  glowing  color, 
than  could  any  resume  of  ours,  the  strength  and  depth  of  the 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  725 

impulse  that  shook  all  classes  to  the  center.  The  Utica  Herald 
contained  a  sketch  of  a  "  Thanksgiving,"  as  sweet  and  touch- 
ing, almost,  in  its  simple  realism,  as  one  of  Charles  Dickens' 
exquisite  Christmas  stories  : 

"  Yesterday  was  a  Thanksgiving  to  be  long  remembered  by 
many  in  Utica.  It  was  cold,  rainy,  snowy  and  cheerless  with- 
out, but  within  door  innumerable  happy  events  occurred.  The 
aLtendance  at  the  churches  was  much  larger  than  usual  and 
the  sermons  were  quite  interesting. 

"  Thanks  to  the  happy  thought  of  Prof.  Evans,  the  indefati- 
gable efforts  of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance  Union, 
and  the  Utica  Reform  Club,  and  aided  by  the  generosity  of 
citizens  generally,  nearly  two  thousand  poor  men,  women  and 
children  enjoyed  as  hearty  a  Thanksgiving  dinner  as  they 
could  possibly  desire.  The  Blue-ribbon  Brigade,  smiling  and 
happy,  with  their  young  lady  friends,  joined  hearts  and  hands 
with  the  members  of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  at  an  early  hour,  yesterday  morning.  Soon  after  the 
vast  assemblv  room  in  the  Carton  Block  was  besieged  with 

w  O 

big-hearted  men,  women  and  children  bearing  baskets  full  of 
everything  good  to  eat ;  from  turkeys  and  tarts  down  to  pies, 
pickles  and  pippins.  They  came  from  the  homes  of  the 
wealthy  and  the  cottages  of  the  mechanics  and  laborers  ;  and 
out  of  the  scanty  stores  of  many  a  poor  wife,  widow  and  sew- 
ing girl,  were  carried  humble  gifts  that  would  overweigh  the 
product  dollars  of  the  rich  in  the  scale  of  genuine  charity. 
They  were  heart  tributes  of  gratitude  to  the  glorious  cause  of 
temperance  reform,  which  has  lifted  great  burdens  of  sorrow 
and  grief  from  their  homes  by'the  reformation  of  heretofore 
unfortunate  husbands,  sons  or  brothers  ;  men  who  were  down 
in  the  mire  last  Thanksgiving,  with  no  certainty  of  getting  a 
dinner  for  themselves  and  careless  whether  their  families  ate 
or  starved,  joined  the  throng  and  added  their  gifts  to  the 
bountiful  feast  prepared  for  others  less  fortunate.  The  amount 
and  variety  of  the  delicacies  and  substantial^  that  were  piled 
up  in  the  east  end  of  Carton  Hall  was  really  surprising.  Three 


726  THE   LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

tables  were  set  nearly  the  v  hole  length  of  the  hall,  and  in  the 
east  end  were  stationed  a  corps  of  skillful  amateur  carvers  and 
busy  ladies,  who  labored  only  as  kind-hearted  men  and  women 
can  labor  in  a  good  cause.  It  is  impossible  and  useless  to  give 
the  bill  of  fare — suffice  to  say  that  no  first-class  hotel  in  Utica 
or  elsewhere  gave  its  guests  a  better  or  more  palatable  dinner. 

"  A  reporter  of  the  Herald  dropped  into  the  hall  at  1  o'clock 
P.  M.,  one  hour  before  the  time  announced  for  the  feast,  but — 
dinner  was  ready.  Such  a  sight  has  never  before  been  seen  in 
Utica.  It  was  one  that  would  warm  the  heart  of  a  miser,  and 
compel  even  the  rumseller  to  throw  up  his  hat  and  bid  God 
speed  to  the  temperance  reform  workers.  It  was  a  practical 
demonstration  of  the  fact  that  temperance  reform  means  good 
to  all — warm  clothing  over  light  hearts  and  good  dinners  to 
take  the  wrinkles  out  of  lean  and  hungry  stomachs. 

"  The  grown  people,  white  and  black,  old  men  and  women, 
residents  and  strangers,  red-nosed  bottle  tipplers  and  pale 
poverty-stricken  people,  ate  only  as  hungry  people  can  eat  when 
they  have  plenty,  but  the  fun  came  in  Avhere  the  boys  and 
girls  were.  Boot-blacks,  newsboys,  peanut  peddlers,  street 
Arabs  of  every  nationality,  color  and  creed  had  a  harvest. 
Shivering,  half  clad,  bare-footed,  sorrel-topped,  wan,  pale,  thin, 
cadaverous,  pinched,  sunken-cheeked,  half-starved  boys  and 
girls  reveled  in  turkey,  goose,  duck,  cranberry  sauce,  mince 
pies,  cake,  doughnuts,  puddings,  apples,  oranges,  coffee,  tea, 
milk,  and  water  till  they  nearly  burst.  The  kind  matrons, 
rosy-cheeked  and  bright-eyed  young  ladies,  and  jovial  members 
of  the  Reform  Club  followed  Bob  Ingersoll's  rule — just  for 
once — and  let  the  gamm  commence  their  dinner  with  pie,  or 
finish  it  with  turkey  01  chicken,  just  as  they  pleased.  They 
were  not  restricted  in  any  way,  and  to  their  credit  be  it  said, 
they  behaved  one  hundred  per  cent,  better  than  the  average 
attendants  at  '  opening  nights,'  or  lunch  fiends  in  a  bar- 
room. How  they  did  eat !  And  how  it  pleased  the  smiling 
spectators  to  see  the  urchins  cram.  One  Arab  with  a  patch  on 
his  nose  and  radiant  in  a  summer  duster,  half  a  shirt  and  two- 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  727 

thirds  of  a  pair  of  pantaloons,  covered  a  piece  of  mince  pie 
with  one  dirty  hand,  and  a  lump  of  pound  cake  with  the  other, 
while  he  was  grinding  the  brown  meat  on  the  drum  of  a  turkey 
with  his  teeth.  A  busier  or  more  interested  lad  was  never 
seen.  Then  when  he  began  to  wrestle  with  the  pie  there  was 
fun.  After  making  two  goodly-sized  half -moon  indications  in 
the  side,  his  appetite  gave  out.  .  He  picked  up  four  big  fat 
raisins,  the  left  hand  bearing  the  pie  dropped  involuntarily  to 
the  table,  the  lad  leaned  back  in  the  chair  and  a  deathly  pallor 
spread  over  his  face.  That  boy  had  evidently  eaten  too  much, 
or  as  they  say  down  South,  he  had  '  bitten  off  more  than  he 
could  chaw  !'  Prof.  Evans  and  his  good  wife,  Mrs.  Northrup, 
President  of  the  Woman's  Union,  President  Latimore  of  the 
Reform  Club,  and  their  coadjutors  were  ubiquitous.  The  work 
went  on  from  noon  until  dark.  At  least  2,000  were  fed,  and 
hundreds  of  baskets  full  of  good  provisions  were  sent  out  to 
worthy  people,  the  sick  poor,  who  could  not  come.  What  is 
left  will  be  distributed  from  the  Court  street  Home  around  the 
city  by  the  ladies  to-day. 

"  Expert  writers  were  kept  busy  filling  up  pledges  and  nimble 
fingers  pinned  blue  ribbons  on  to  400  persons  yesterday.  Don't 
ask — '  How  many  of  them  will  keep  it  ? '  but  follow  suit  and 
do  what  you  can  to  help  the  weak  to  stand  by  their  pledges 
and  be  true  to  their  manhood. 

"  'Did  you  have  a  good  dinner?'  inquired  &  Herald  reporter 
of  three  wee  Arabs  who  sat  on  a  pile  of  lumber  by  the  new 
station-house.  '  Have  a  good  dinner  ? '  they  replied.  '  Guess 
we  did  have  a  bully  dinner,  but  we're  so  sick  ! '  They  need 
not  have  told  this,  for  their  pale  faces  showed  it,  and  their  un- 
buttoned jackets  proved  that  the  pitcher  had  gone  to  the  well 
too  often.  In  spite  of  being  sick,  they  were  eager  in  their 
chase  for  the  stump  of  a  discarded  cigar.  It  didn't  hurt  them 
to  get  sick  as  long  as  they  had  one  good  square  Thanksgiving 
dinner.  They  may  go  hungry  to-day,  but  they  had  a  'bully 
dinner'  (inelegant  but  full  of  meaning  to  the  boys)  yesterday. 

That  is  what  about  everybody  said  who  enjoyed  yesterday's 


728  THE  LI1  E  AND   WORK   OF 

good  work.  Not  one-tenth  of  our  practical  Christians  enjoyed 
the  experiment  of  yesterday.  Some  thought  there  wouldn't  be 
anything  to  eat,  and  others  that  there  would  be  no  one  to  eat 
what  they  did  have.  Now  that  Prof.  Evans  and  the  temper- 
ance ladies  have  opened  the  ball,  let  it  be  kept  rolling  and  end 
up  with  another  old-fashioned  Christmas  dinner  for  the  poor. 
Some  who  were  not  poor  ate  at  Carton  Hall  yesterday,  but 
many  of  the  hardest  workers  among  the  men  and  women  were 
so  anxious  to  help  others  that  they  forgot  to  eat  their  own 
dinners,  and  that  equalized  things.  'Let  scallawa.gs  eat,  if 
they  wish,'  said  Professor  Evans,  '  as  long  as  the  worthy  and 
hungry  have  enough.' " 

The  Hornellsville  Times  said  : 

"The  blue-ribbon  cure  is  better  than  blue  glass.  It  re- 
moves pain  from  the  heart,  dizziness  from  the  head,  splinters 
from  the  eyes  and  straightens  the  hair.  Not  only  this,  but  it 
is  a  specific  for  melancholy  and  brooding  diseases  of  the 
mind,  afflicting  whole  families. 

"  At  Olean,  the  daughter  of  a  man  who  signed  the  pledge 
and  put  on  the  blue  ribbon,  went  dancing  along  the  street  say- 
ing to  every  one  she  met,  *  Oh,  I'm  so  glad,  so  glad,  I  don't 
know  what  to  do.  My  father  has  signed  the  pledge,  and 
mother's  glad,  and  I  am  s:>  glad  !  Now  we  are  just  as  good 
as  anybody,  and  so  is  my  father,  too.  Oh,  goody,  goody  !' 
and  she  danced  along  the  street  telling  the  good  news  to 
every  schoolmate  that  her  sick  father  had  been  cured  of  a 
loathsome  disease.  And  here  in  Hornellsville  last  Saturday 
night  a  husband  and  father  clothed  in  his  right  mind  for  the 
first  time  in  many  years,  went  to  one  of  our  stores  with  money 
in  his  pocket,  and  bought  stockings  for  his  children  and  other 
articles  for  himself  and  wife.  It  was  the  blue  ribbon  that 
did  it.  It  was  the  blue-ribbon  cure." 

This  touching  epistle  appeared  in  the  Oneida  Dispatch, 
N.  Y.  : 

"  Dear  Friends  : — I  have  thought  as  I  sat  and  listened  to 
the  various  statements  and  appeals  which  have  been  made  at 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  729 

these  meetings,  that  too  little  has  been  said  in  regard  to  that 
kind  of  dissipation  styled  '  moderate  drinking.' 

"  I  have  often  heard  men  say,  '  Oh  !  I  am  not  a  drunkard  ; 
I  take  a  glass  now  and  then,  but  I  don't  get  drunk.'  It  seems 
to  me  that  there  lies  a  peculiar  danger.  It  is  as  if  one  should 
venture  in  a  frail  boat  among  the  rapids,  just  above  the  mighty 
cataract  of  Niagara,  and  shutting  their  eyes  and  ears  to  the 
grand  spectacle  and  the  deafening  roar  should  say  as  the  little 
boat  neared  the  fearful  precipice  '  I  am  not  in  danger  !  I  am 
only  taking  a  row  on  the  river  !  I  shall  not  go  over  !' 

"  Oh  !  my  friends  !  not  more  surely  will  that  little  boat  with 
its  living  freight  go  down  to  a  dreadful  death  than  will  the 
moderate  drinker  become  eventually  a  drunkard,  blight  his 
home,  break  the  hearts  of  his  friends  and  wreck  the  promise 
of  his  early  manhood. 

"  Among  all  the  accounts  related  here,  I  have  heard  but 
little  of  the  sorrows  of  the  wives  of  moderate  drinkers ;  and 
since  it  has  been  my  unfortunate  lot  to  be  one  of  these,  I  have 
felt  it  my  duty  to  give  you  a  brief  sketch  of  my  life. 

"  I  have  always  kept  my  trouble  to  myself,  confiding  in 
none  but  God. 

"  When  I  was  married,  there  was  no  happier  and  prouder 
bride,  and  there  never  was  a  better  and  kinder  husband  than 
mine  until  he  began  to  drink  ;  and  now  I  have  nothing  to 
complain  of  when  he  is  not  .under  the  influence  of  liquor. 

"  But  how  can  I  tell  you  the  sorrow  and  agony  I  have  felt 
to  see  my  dear  husband  trail  his  manhood  in  the  dust,  come 
home  to  me  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning — drunk  ! 

"  How  many  such  vigils  as  mine  are  kept  ?  How  many 
weeping  wives  have  '  watched  the  stars  out,'  waiting  in  an 
agony  of  fear,  to  hear  the  unsteady  step,  and  senseless  speech, 
of  the  man  who  she  vowed  to  love  and  honor.  Ah,  me  !  were 
women  not  as  true  and  faithful  as  they  are,  how  would  love 
and  honor  pale  and  die-  as  the  wife — heart-broken  and  ashamed 
— looks  for  the  first  time  on  her  beloved  husband — drunk  ! 

"  Oh,  moderate  drinker  !  taking  '  only  a. glass  now  and  then,' 
31* 


730  THE   TJFE   AND   WORK   OF 

pause  now — set  down  the  gl-ass  untasted — -go  and  get  a  blue 
ribbon  and  go  home  to  your  wife  and  children  a  manly  man — 
one  from  which  they  shall  not  shrink  in  fear  and  disgust. 

"  Every  week  the  papers  are  filled  with  the  heartrending 
details  of  wives  and  children  beaten  cruelly,  or  murdered  in  a 
drunken  fury,  by  men  who,  doubtless,  once  took  '  only  a  glass 
now  and  then.' 

"  The  first  glass  !  to  what  does  it  not  lead  ?  Another,  and 
another  !  and  the  hard  earned  dollars  melt  like  the  snowflake  ! 
Then  in  his  desperation,  seeing  his  family's  distress  and  suffer- 
ing, the  unhappy  man  resorts  to  the  gaming  table  !  He  loses  ! 
and  drinks  to  drown  his  disappointment,  and  the  paling  morn- 
ing star  sees  him  rolling  home  to  find  perhaps  a  child,  a  wife 
dying  or  dead  ! 

"  I  am  sure  my  husband  did  not  mean  to  drink  again  when 
he  knelt  one  night,  with  sobs  and  tears,  beside  our  dying  child, 
but  the  tempter  was  too  powerful,  and  again  he  fell,  and  the 
night  watches  have  been  repeated  while  my  aching  heart  was 
well  nigh  broken. 

"  But  now — thanks  to  those  noble  men,  Messrs.  McCurry 
and  McMaster,  who  have  striven  so  earnestly  and  well  to 
rescue  and  raise  the  fallen  ;  and  thanks  to  God  for  putting  it 
in  their  hearts  to  come  to  Oneida — my  dear  husband  wears 
the  '  blue  ribbon,'  and  I  ask  the  prayers  of  all  in  our  behalf, 
that  he  may  be  steadfast,  and  not  yield  again  to  the  accursed 
tempter. 

"  I  have  always  worked  hard,  and  am  neither  afraid  nor 
ashamed.  My  husband  would%  tell  you  I  have  been  a  good 
wife  and  a  helper,  and  row  my  one  wish  and  desire  is  to  keep 
our  happy  home  unsullied,  and  to  go  down  the  hill  of  life 
hand-in-hand  together,  and  when  death  comes,  trusting  in 
God's  mercy,  we  may  go  together  to  meet  our  darling  child. 

"  I  pray  God  to  give  my  husband,  and  all  like  him  (and 
there  have  been  only  too  many  of  these  in  Oneida),  to  give 
him  strength  to  keep  the  pledge  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

"  And  if  this  brief  sketch  shall  open  the  eyes  of  anyone 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  731 

who  takes  '  only  a  glass  now  and  then,'  to  the  insidious 
danger  lurking  in  that,  and  lead  him  to  stop  now,  and  don  the 
'  blue  ribbon  '  i  o-niyht,  I  shall  have  ray  reward. 

"  May  God  grant  it,  is  the  heartfelt  prayer  of 

"  ONE  OF  THE  WIVES." 

So  the  good  work  went  on  without  any  abatement  through 
Southern  New  York,  each  town  of  any  importance  feeling  in 
some  degree  the  force  of  the  movement  which  was  sweeping 
through  the  country.  It  is  stated  in  rough  estimate  that  at 
least  a  hundred  thousand  people  throughout  these  southern 
counties  of  the  Empire  State  became  reformed.  The  charge 
so  often  made  that  only  a  small  number  of  the  Murphy  con- 
verts "  stick  "  is  false  and  malignant.  On  excellent  authority 
it  is  claimed  that  a  fair  proportion  of  two-thirds  remain  true 
to  the  solemn  pledges  taken.  Before  following  Francis  Murphy 
to  other  sections  of  the  field,  we  give  our  readers  a  speech 
made  by  the  great  reformer  before  a  religious  convention  in 
Western  New  York. 

Saturday,  August  4,  1877,  was  the  opening  day  of  the 
fourth  annual  session  of  the  Chatauqua  Assembly.  The  beau- 
tiful groves  were  thronged  with  delighted  visitors,  all  of 
whom  were  very  curious  and  anxious  to  attend  the  lecture  by 
Francis  Murphy,  the  great  apostle  of  temperance.  In  the 
afternoon  Eccles  Robinson,  who  had  so  suddenly  done  such 
great  work  in  Elmira,  was  introduced,  and  delivered  an  inter- 
esting account  of  his  life. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Mead,  of  Hornellsville,  N.  Y.,  followed  him 
with  a  graphic  narrative  of  the  movement  in  the  southern  tier 
of  counties  in  his  State. 

Francis  Murphy  was  then  introduced  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Vin- 
cent, and  received  a  grand  welcome.  After  the  deafening  ap- 
plause had  died  away,  he  advanced  and  said  : 

"  Mr.  President  and  Friends  :  I  hope  and  trust  that,  as  I 
shall  try  to  speak  to  you  this  afternoon,  I  shall  have  your 
prayers  and  sympathy,  that  God's  blessing  may  rest  upon  us, 
and  that  all  I  shall  say  this  afternoon  may  be  directed  to  God's 


732  THE  LIFE   A1STD   WORK   OF 

holy  spirit.  For  if  God  be  with  us,  who  can  be  against  us?  It 
has  been  a  good  day  for  me,  and  I  am  glad  that  I  came  here 
and  have  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  of  the  world's  Redeemer. 
That  One,  of  whom  we  heard  to-day,  by  the  sweet  influence 
of  His  holy  spirit  came  to  me  and  took  the  scales  from  my 
eyes  and  opened  the  prison-house  of  bondage  ;  and  through 
the  name  of  Christ  I  am  permitted  to  stand  before  you,  saved 
by  His  grace,  and  I  trust  not  only  reformed,  but  transformed 
by  the  renewing  of  the  mind,  and  that  by-and-by  I  may  be 
able  to  prove  what  is  that  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect 
will  of  God  concerning  me.  You  have  heard  from  the  lips  of 
this  young  man  to-day  how  he  was  rescued.  Brother  Eccles 
Robinson  and  you  will  excuse  me  whilst  I  say  a  word  respect- 
ing him.  I  have  had  the  good  fortune  of  meeting  him,  and  I 
wish  to  say  in  the  presence  of  this  vast  multitude  that  the  boy 
seems  to  have  been  a  greater  blessing  to  me  than  I  have  been 
to  him.  I  wish  to  say  to  you,  that  if  any  of  you  are  getting 
great  wealth  on  account  of  a  sober  life,  on  account  of  some  kind 
act  some  person  may  have  done  you,  I  believe  to-day  I  am 
getting  the  greatest  joy  of  any  of  you,  in  the  fact  that  I  saw 
this  young  man  standing  up  and  saved  by  the  grace  of  God  ; 
arid  he  has  a  happy  wife  and  family  in  the  city  of  Elmira,  and 
another  happy  family  in  Pittsburgh,  where  he  has  a  loyal  and 
Christian  mother  who  has  hoped  for  the  reformation  of  her 
boy.  She  has  other  boys  who  are  not  yet  saved,  and  I  will 
ask  your  prayers  for  them  to-day,  that  God  may  reach  them, 
and  that  her  heart  may  be  made  happy  in  the  complete  salva- 
tion of  all  her  children.  He  squandered  a  fortune  of  some 
seventy  th:usand  dollars,  and  paid  particular  attention  to 
getting  rid  of  it,  as  lots  of  young  men  do  who  never  knew 
how  they  get  money,  only  their  fathers  gave  it  to  them, 
and  they  do  not  know  the  value  of  it,  and  consequently 
they  go  to  work  and  spend  it.  And  I  think  sometimes  when 
God's  people  need  some  money  to  carry  on  their  work  that  you 
people  who  are  buying  United  States  bonds,  and  extending 
your  broad  acres,  if  you  please,  and  constantly  spending  your 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  733 

money  in  that  way,  instead  of  giving  it  to  God's  people,  to 
build  a  fence  around  your  boys  to  keep  them  from  going  to 
destruction — that  you  will  be  sorry  by-and-by  that  you  didn't 
do  it.  Remember  that  all  you  have  got  to-day  belongs  to  Him, 
and  by-and-by  you  will  have  to  give  it  all  up,  and  I  hope  and 
trust  you  will  feel  when  God  calls  you  that  you  have  been  a 
faithful  steward  and  have  done  your  duty.  Excuse  me  for 
this  reference,  because  the  work  we  are  engaged  in  is  the  tem- 
perance reform.  But  it  almost  breaks  my  heart  when  I  see 
some  of  God's  ministers — noble  men — who  have  become  almost 
superannuated,  so  to  speak  ;  who  have  worked  all  the  days  of 
their  lives  for  their  people,  giving  themselves  away,  and  almost 
starving  themselves,  and  right  under  the  eaves  of  his  house  is 
the  palatial  residence  of  a  man  who  says  he  is  a  brother,  but 
simply  in  name,  not  in  practice.  May  God  help  us  to  open 
our  hearts  to  God's  poor.  This  is  not  temperance,  but  I  am 
not  to  be  trusted  on  this  subject.  I  did  not  tell  you  I  was  an 
Irishman,  and  you  know  that  an  Irishman  is  always  permitted 
to  speak  until  he  is  understood. 

"  I  will  talk  to  you  this  afternoon  a  little  while  on  the  subject 
of  gospel  temperance.  My  good  brother  who  introduced  me, 
Dr.  Vincent,  whose  name  is  familiar  to  all  the  good  people  in 
this  country,  bringing  us  into  closer  relations  with  God  and 
each  other,  has  announced  it  as  the  new  temperance  movement. 
I  say  to  you  that  I  will  call  it  a  leaf  from  real  life,  and  if  there 
are  men  who  drink  or  sell  intoxicating  liquors  here  I  have  no 
quarrel  with  you,  not  a  word.  I  came  here  to-day  with  that 
blessed  motto  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  '  With  Malice  towards 
none,  with  Charity  for  all,'  and  hence  it  is,  I  believe,  safe  for  us 
to  leave  our  hearts  in  the  hands  of  God  and  permit  Him  to  do 
something  for  us,  so  that  if  words  offensive  shall  pass  from  my 
lips,  on  my  part  they  are  not  intended.  Real  life  always  fur- 
nishes stranger  stories  '.ban  romance  ever  dreamed  of,  and  the 
truth  is  always  more  startling  than  fiction.  On  April  24, 
1836,  I  wis  born  in  the  village  of  Turgot,  county  Wexford,  in 
the  eastern  part  of  ^reland,  three  thousand  miles  across  the 


734  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK"   OT? 

Atlantic  ocean,  in  a  humble  little  thatched  cottage,  situated 
upon  a  beautiful  mound  of  land  overlooking  the  sea  ;  and 
although  separated  from  that  humble  home  for  more  than 
twenty  years,  by  a  distance  of  thousands  of  miles,  yet  in 
imagination  I  can  see  it  as  it  was,  and  sometimes  memory  will 
take  wings  and  fly  to  the  humble  cottage  home  and  with  rapt- 
urous delight  feed  upon  boyhood's  days.  Well  do  I  remem- 
ber, when  a  youth,  kneeling  with  my  mother  in  silent  prayer 
and  asking  God  to  watch  over  my  helpless  infancy,  and  keep 
my  riper  years  in  the  way  of  peace.  The  front  garden  was 
filled  with  choicest  flowers,  planted  by  my  own  hands, 
making  the  air  fragrant  with  their  richest  perfume  ;  the  slop- 
ing hills  kissed  by  the  rays  of  the  morning  sun,  whilst  the 
grand  old  ocean  rolled  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  singing  its  cease- 
less hymn  of  praise  to  Him  who  bids  a  thousand  fleets  sweep 
over  it  and  write  no  furrow  on  its  ever  youthful  brow.  I  have 
stood  in  the  little  cottage  door  and  looked  out  on  its  bright, 
green,  throbbing  bosom,  over  which  the  vessels  passed  and 
repassed  with  their  white,  silken  sails,  bearing  their  precious 
freight  to  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave.  I 
had  read  of  this  new  world,  its  golden  mines  and  silver  lakes, 
and  longed  for  the  time  to  come  when  I,  too,  could  sail  for  this 
free  land.  But  it  seemed  to  me  like  hoping  against  fate.  We 
were  poor  and  had  to  struggle  against  poverty  and  drive  it 
out  of  the  house  the  best  we  could.  I  do  not  know  that  you 
are  afflicted  with  the  disease  in  this  charming  locality,  but  we 
were  particularly  afflicted  with  poverty  in  the  little  house 
'beyant  the  say.'  I  remember  at  the  time  of  the  golden  har- 
vest, of  coming  in  at  night  and  lying  down  with  the  grain  we 
had  gathered,  and  at  noontime  we  pushed  away  the  little  fur- 
niture and  threshed  out  the  barley,  and  in  this  way  your 
speaker  first  commenced  to  make  a  living.  If  there  is  a  be- 
setting sin  in  this  country  to-day,  one  that  is  undermining  the 
soul  of  honor,  it  is  because  young  men  have  become  ashamed 
of  honest  labor  ;  and  allow  me  to  say  to  you,  young  man, 
who  have  taken  your  stand  upon  the  world's  broad  field  of 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  735 

battle,  never  be  ashamed  of  honest  labor,  and  whatever  thy 
hand  findeth  to  do,  that  is  honorable,  do  it  with  all  thy  might, 
and  the  blessing  of  him  who  hath  made  us  in  the  express 
image  of  himself  will  crown  your  efforts  with  success.  Then 
if  there  is  a  man  in  this  congregation  to-day  who  is  in  the 
darkness  of  despair  and  who  is  walking  in  the  valley  of  humili- 
ation, that  the  iron  hand  of  poverty  has  got  a  close  hold  upon — 
ah,  there  is  hope  for  you,  my  brother.  You  can  buy  your 
release  from  this  tyrant  if  you  are  willing,  by  the  grace 
of  God  assisting  you,  to  take  the  hand  of  honest  labor 
and  let  it  lead  you.  It  is  the  golden  highway  of  honor 
to-day  that  is  cast  up  for  the  ransom  of  his  people. 
I  care  not  whether  it  is  the  tinker,  the  tailor,  the  me- 
chanic or  the  man  who  studies  in  the  office,  the  only  way  to 
honor,  to  true  manhood,  is  by  the  golden  way  of  honest  toil. 
Then,  my  dear  brother,  take  heart,  do  not  be  discouraged,  let 
us  go  up  and  possess  the  land.  But,  you  say,  there  are  diffi- 
culties in  the  way,  there  are  boulders  to  be  removed,  yes,  and 
mountains  to  be  cast  into  the  sea  ;  but  what  of  it  ?  blessed  be 
God,  this  divine,  this  kingly,  this  immortal  spirit  that  beats 
and  longs  for  freedom  and  noble  life,  shall  give  them  power  to 
remove  the  boulders.  Excelsior  !  thou  kingly  spirit !  Come 
on,  men  !  let's  go  up  into  this  land,  where  it  is  crowned  with 
the  eternal  sun,  and  stand  with  the  best  and  truest,  with  our 
life  of  deathless  honor  won  from  honest  labor. 

"  After  years  of  persevering  toil,  wealth  came,  and  after 
wealth  came,  fashion  was  introduced.  I  trust  you  are  not 
afflicted  with  this  yourselves,  but  I  have  no  time  to  talk  to  you 
about  fashions  ;  but  let  me  say  just  a  word,  and  I  say  it  to  my 
children,  have  the  manly  courage  to  live  within  your  means. 
This  is  the  secret  of  virtuous  manhood.  Don't  barter  away 
your  honor  ;  don't  do  it  for  a  suit  of  clothes  ;  don't  pawn 
your  word.  Be  free.  Be  a  man  and  breathe  God's  pure  air. 
C  irry  a  heart  true  and  loyal  within  your  breast  ;  that  if  it  is 
turned  inside  out  there  is  no  stain  upon  it,  and  you  are  a  man 
as  noble  as  walks  the  earth.  Public  opinion  mother  would 


736  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 


to  ;  and  for  weeks  previous  to  the  arrival  of  company, 
she  would  be  in  the  pantry  preparing  her  pies  and  cakes  ;  and 
the  table  might  be  ever  so  well  laden,  unless  the  liquor  be 
placed  upon  it  it  would  not  be  acceptable.  In  my  country, 
when  a  boy,  I  was  not  admitted  to  the  social  circle.  But  I 
notice  in  this  country  that  Bobbin's  chair  is  bixmght  to  the 
head  of  the  table,  and  all  the  company  are  introduced  to  Bob- 
bin :  but  in  my  country  all  the  youngsters  are  huddled  to- 
gether out  in  the  kitchen,  and  this  part  of  the  entertainment  I 
didn't  like  very  well,  for  I  was  one  of  the  boys  who  subsisted 
largely  on  what  I  ate,  and  was  passionately  fond  of  hearing 
what  was  going  on,  and  I  was  pleased  to  see  what  pains 
mother  took.  And  it  was  in  this  little  tidy  kitchen  our  food 
was  prepared,  and  the  little  white  Irish  linen  cloth,  whiter  than 
snow,  was  put  on  the  table  ;  and  white  China  tea  dishes,  with 
gold  edges  around  them,  kept  in  the  closet  but  for  these  special 
occasions,  and  if  you  touched  them  they  would  sing  like  a  bird. 
I  could  see  the  frosted  cake  where  the  knife  had  cut  through 
it,  and  see  the  great  nice  raisins,  and  it  was  not  on  account  of 
any  goodness  in  me  that  I  didn't  pick  them  out.  Mother 
would  call  me  into  the  other  room  and  say  :  '  Come  here,  my 
boy,  be  a  good  boy,  and  keep  perfectly  still  out  in  the  kitchen.' 
'  Ho,  dear,  oh,  dear.'  '  Stop  your  noise  and  go  into  the  kit- 
chen.' '  Oh,  dear,  oh,  dear.'  There  was  no  alternative  but 
into  the  kitchen,  with  the  tears  running  down  my  cheeks.  I 
longed  for  the  time  to  be  a  man  and  eat  with  the  rest  of  the 
people.  I  was  peeping  through  the  door  when  one  of  the 
company  beckoned  to  me  and  I  crept  in,  and  he  put  his  arms 
around  me  as  I  stood  by  him,  little  codger  as  I  was.  They 
had  got  through  eating  and  had  commenced  to  drink  their 
toddy.  My  friend  had  a  glass  in  his  hand,  put  sugar  in  it  and 
diluted  the  liquor  and  passed  it  into  my  little  hand  ;  and  I 
remember  standing  by  his  side  and  sipping  it,  and  I  remember 
the  first  flash  of  intoxication  that  passed  through  my  system. 
It  was  at  home,  in  the  social  circle,  in  the  little  house  I  have 
described,  that  your  speaker  first  learned  to  drink  intoxicating 


FKANCIS    MURPHY.  737 

liquor,  and  where  the  seeds  of  intemperance  'were  first  sown, 
and  I  believe  my  mother  loved  me  as  well  as  any  of  you 
parents  love  your  children.  Let  me  beseech  you,  for  your 
children's  sake,  to  remove  this  evil  from  your  house  and  give 
them  the  benefit  of  a  life  of  total  abstinence.  It  is  one  of  the 
grandest  gifts  you  can  give  to  your  children  to-day. 

"  I  wish  I  had  the  power  to  tell  you  how  I  longed  to  see  this 
blessed  country,  where  all  men  stand  free  and  equal.  When  I 
told  mother  I  meant  to  come  I  remember  how  the  big  tear- 
drops stood  in  her  eyes.  And  well  I  remember,  too,  her  pack- 
ing up  my  little  trunk,  and  the  tears  would  drop  on  the  articles 
as  she  placed  them  there." 

Mr.  Murphy  affectingly  described  his  parting,  the  voyage  to 
America,  and  his  experience  until  his  conversion  in  the  jail  at 
Portland.  He  concluded  his  address  with  one  of  his  wonderful 
bursts  of  eloquence;,  amidst  the  loud  and  continued  applause 
of  the  large  audience. 


738  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 


CHAPTER  VII 

FRANCIS      MURPHY     AMONG     THE     TROJANS. ANOTHER     GRAND 

SEASON   OF    TEMPERANCE     REFORM    AND    REVIVAL. FORTY 

THOUSAND     PLEDGE-TAKERS    IN    TWO     MONTHS. STRIKING 

PHASES    OF   THE    CAMPAIGN   AT   TROY. 

THE  next  remarkable  campaign  of  the  temperance  reformer 
was  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  one  of  the  largest  manufacturing  centers 
of  the  Empire  State.  His  advent  was  looked  forward  to  for 
weeks  in  advance  with  the  greatest  curiosity  ;  and  a  fever  of 
interest  and  expectation  excited  over  the  man,  who  will  pro- 
bably be  known  as  the  greatest  temperance  revivalist  since  the 
death  of  Father  Matthew.  Preparations  were  made  for  the 
coming  event,  and  every  step  taken  by  the  influential  and  rep- 
utable citizens  to  make  the  season  rich  in  faithfulness.  The 
newspapers,  especially,  interested  themselves  deeply  in  the  mat- 
ter, and  when  Murphy  arrived,  he  found  the  field  splendidly 
prepared  for  the  sewing  of  the  seed.  So  strong  was  the  public 
feeling  that  the  Common  Council  proffered  the  reformer  the 
use  of  the  large  audience  room  in  the  City  Hall  for  the  inaug- 
ural meeting.  His  novel  methods  and  peculiarly  original  and 
effective  plan  of  attacking  the  sodden  heart  and  conscience  of 
the  drunkard  were  the  themes*  of  general  discussion,  and  as 
several  interviews  with  Murphy  by  the  newspaper  reporters 
had  been  published,  the  public  mind  was  well  enlightened  as 
to  the  plan  of  battle,  which  the  great  temperance  general  was 
to  inaugurate.  In  one  of  these  interviews  Mr.  Murphy  said  : 

"  This  cause,  I  wish  you  to  distinctly  understand,  is  neither 
political  nor  sectarian.  It  is  for  the  Roman  Catholic  as  well 


FKANCIS    MUKPHY.  739 

as  the  Protestant,  and  we  can  all  shake  hands  together  over 
the  success  of  the  movement. 

"  My  motto  is  '  with  Malice  toward  none,  with  Charity  for 
all,'  and  I  distinctly  adhere  to  it  upon  all  occasions.  I  make 
no  tirade  against  liquor  sellers  ;  there  are  some  good  men  in 
the  business,  but  they  cannot  be  driven  out  by  abuse.  I  am 
convinced  that  the  only  true  method  of  total  abstinence  is  to 
prevail  upon  men  to  stop  drinking,  and  theii  the  other  men  will 
cease  selling,  as  there  will  be  no  demand  for  their  whisky. 
There  can  be  no  reduction  in  the  sale  of  intoxicating  drink  so 
long  as  men  continue  to  use  it.  Therefore,  my  idea  is  to  per- 
suade men  to  abstain,  for  you  can  have  no  stronger  sentiment 
in  the  community  than  that  in  the  real  life  of  the  people. 

"  You  may  legislate  to  any  extent  concerning  the  closing  of 
saloons,  but  you  do  not  reach  the  hearts  of  the  people.  You 
must  prevail  upon  a  man  to  stop  drinking  and  turn  his  atten- 
tion to  his  home,  and  instead  of  spending  his  money  in  a  grog- 
shop, induce  him  to  carry  it  home  to  his  wife  and  children." 

Mr.  Murphy  expresses  his  doubt  of  the  efficacy  of  legislation 
in  securing  the  reform  of  men  addicted  to  spirituous  drink  and 
confirmed  inebriates.  Kind  words,  gentleness  and  warm- 
hearted sympathy  he  thinks  will  accomplish  a  great  deal 
more.  He,  said  in  conversation,  "  I  believe  that  kindness  will 
go  a  great  way  in  saving  these  men.  They  are  too  much 
neglected  now  and  passed  by  as  though  outcasts  from  society. 
And  yet  these  very  men,  if  they  could  only  receive  a  kind 
word  and  some  little  attention,  if  they  received  treatment  of 
that  kind,  I  believe  in  my  heart  that  nearly  all  could  be  saved. 
My  experience  in  this  movement  has  convinced  me  of  that 
fact,  for  in  my  own  life  it  was  kindness  that  saved  me." 

The  two  men  selected  by  Murphy,  in  accordance  with  his 
method  of  work,  to  assist  him,  Avere  Eccles  Robinson,  who  had 
carried  on  the  Elmira  work,  and  Col.  Luther  Caldwell,  one  of 
the  notable  converts  of  that  work.  Of  the  former,  the  reader 
has  already  had  a  sketch.  The  latter-named  gentleman,  who 
had  been  quite  prominent,  both  in  social  and  public  life,  in  his 


740  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

region,  is  worthy  of  some  special  description,  before  we  pro- 
ceed further  with  the  Murphy  crusade  in  Troy,  as  he  was  a 
most  powerful"  and  enthusiastic  assistant  in  the  work  accom- 
plished. 

The  striking  fact  is  that  Col.  Caldwell,  formerly  proprietor 
of  the  Rathbun  House,  Elrnira,  signed  the  pledge  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  young  man,  Eccles  Robinson,  sold  the 
hotel,  and  has  become  one  of  Mr.  Murphy's  most  devoted 
assistants.  Col.  Caldwell  was  a  man  of  no  little  prominence 
in  central  and  western  New  York  ;  'was  proprietor  of  the 
Elmira  Advertiser;  for  two  consecutive  sessions  clerk  of  the 
assembly,  secretary  of  the  State  constitutional  convention,  and 
some  four  years  ago  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city  of  Elmira, 
proving  to  be  a  very  popular  chief  magistrate.  He  is  a  fervent, 
earnest  man,  and  possessed  of  a  strong,  clear  voice,  which  has 
always  given  him  a  famous  reputation  as  a  reader. 

He  ascribed  his  conversion  to  the  fact  that  his  wife  inter- 
ested herself  in  the  movement,  and  in  that  way  his  thought 
and  attention  were  attracted.  One  Sunday  afternoon  he  at- 
tended a  meeting  in  the  Opera  House  in  Elmira,  in  company 
with  his  wife,  and  before  he  left  the  building,  he  became  an 
enthusiastic  convert  to  the  cause  of  temperance. 

On  Monday,  the  following  day,  he  received  an  invitation  to 
deliver  an  address  in  the  village  of  Corning.  He  hesitated, 
doubting  his  ability  to  speak  upon  the  subject  of  temperance, 
but  finally  accepted  the  offer,  and  in  his  debut  is  said  to  have 
made  a  great  impression  upon  all  of  his  hearers,  and  accom 
plished  much  good.  His  time  after  that  was  occupied  to  such 
an  extent  with  the  work  he  had  entered  upon,  that  he  finally 
.  sold  out  his  interest  in  the  hotel,  and  has  since  devoted  himself 
exclusively  to  the  movement  he  joined.  Mr.  Murphy  pro- 
nounces him  an  able  and  eloquent  orator. 

Col.  Caldwell  declared  that  previous  to  his  conversion  he 
had  been  bitterly  opposed  to  the  cause  of  temperance,  on 
accoint  of  the  severe  denunciations  and  terrific  tirades  all 
reformers  had  indulged  in  towards  those  who  had  connection 


FRANCIS     MURPHY.  741 

in  any  way  whatever  witr  the  liquor  business.  Out  of  curi- 
osity to  hear  what  the  young  man,  Mr.  Robinson,  had  to  say 
upon  the  then  much  agitated  subject  in  Elmira,  and  whose 
mottc  he  learned  was  "  Malice  towards  none,  Charity  for  all," 
in  appealing  to  audiences,  Col.  Caldwell  decided  to  attend  the 
meeting,  with  the  above-mentioned  result. 

The  impulse  which  led  to  Mr.  Murphy's  being  called  to 
Tioy  was  purely  of  a  religious  character.  The  ministerial 
association  appointed  a  committee,  of  which  Rev.  Dr.  Bald- 
win was  chairman,  for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  with  Mr. 
Murphy,  and  preparing  the  way  for  his  labors,  with  what  re- 
sults we  have  already  indicated.  The  heartiness  with  which 
the  city  govei'nment  and  the  general  public  co-operated,  left 
no  doubt  as  to  the  success  of  the  plan.  Mr.  Murphy  arrived 
at  Troy  on  Saturday  night,  Nov.  10,  1877.  Before  com- 
mencing his  labors,  he  took  a  couple  of  days  for  rest,  of  which 
he  stood  in  great  need.  On  Sunday  night,  Dr.  Baldwin  in- 
troduced him  to  the  congregation  of  the  Third  Street  Baptist 
Church,  whom  he  addressed  in  a  few  earnest  and  telling  re- 
marks, concluding  with  a  fervent  prayer  to  the  Almighty, 
that  his  labors  might  be  blessed  in  their  city.  Before  giving 
a  connected  account  of  the  Troy  work,  Mr.  Murphy's  views 
and  feelings,  as  expressed  in  a  conversation  with  a  local 
journalist,  will  be  of  decided  interest,  and  we  quote  the  more 
important  parts  of  the  interview  : 

"  I  tell  you,  my  friend,"  he  remarked,  "  I  have  gone  into 
this  blessed  field  body  and  soul,  and  I  am  going  to  stick  to  it, 
sink  or  swim.  You  may  not  be  sanguine  of  the  success  of  the 
great  movement  here,  but  I  am  morally  certain  that  unex- 
pected results  will  crown  our  labors  in  this  city." 

"  What  are  your  impressions  of  Troy,  Mr.  Murphy  ?" 

"  I  am  favorably  impressed  with  your  city,  and  feel  satisfied 
in  my  own  mind  that  an  opportunity  is  offered  here  for  me  to 
do  great  good,  and  that  too  many  of  your  citizens  are  slaves 
to  the  habit  of  drink.  I  do  not  believe  in  having  the  love  of 
God  as  a  respecter  of  persons,  but  consider  one  man  is  no 


742  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

better  than  another  any  further  than  his  conduct  justifies. 
It  is  utterly  impossible  to  separate  the  poor  from  the  rich,  or 
the  ignorant  from  the  intelligent.  Our  interests  are  mutually 
bound  up  together  ;  thei'efore  it  is  the  duty  of  all  to  do  what 
they  can,  consistently  with  their  convictions  of  right,  to  eman- 
cipate mankind  from  the  slavery  of  spirituous  liquors." 

"How  do  you  propose  to  inaugurate  your  movement  here?1' 

"  By  a  public  address,  in  which  I  shall  appeal  to  the  honor, 
intelligence,  integrity  and  love  of  truth  and  justice.  The 
pledge  will  be  offered  upon  that  occasion,  but  it  is  not  my 
wish  to  have  anybody  subscribe  his  name  to  the  obligation 
unless  he  feels  it  his  duty  to  do  so.  Afterwards  noonday 
prayer-meetings  will  be  held  for  the  purpose  of  asking  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  our  united  efforts  to  reclaim  men  from 
the  power  of  intoxicating  drink,  and  then  I  can  have  a  per- 
sonal interview  with  these  individuals,  take  them  by  the  hand, 
look  into  their  faces  and  give  such  counsel  as  I  think  they 
stand  in  need  of.  The  work  is  truly  one  of  love  and  kindness, 
and  our  motto  is,  '  Malice  toward  none,  and  Charity  for  all.' 
There  is  no  denunciation  of  liquor  dealers  ;  if  men  will  stop 
buying,  the  sale  will  cease.  Drinking  is  a  voluntary  act ;  if 
men  drink  they  certainly  have  the  right  to  cease  doing  so. 
But  to  accomplish  this  end  and  overcome  the  pernicious  appe- 
tite, divine  help  is  needed." 

"  How  do  you  propose,  Mr.  Murphy,  to  carry  out  your  work 
and  make  it  permanent  after  it  is  once  fairly  established  ?" 

"  I  firmly  believe  that  every  man  has  religious  convictions  ; 
that  he  is  friendly  to  some  religious  society  in  the  city  in 
which  he  lives  ;  that  it  is  a  duty  which  he  owes  to  himself  and 
his  family  to  become  connected  with  a  religious  body  in  order 
to  encircle  himself,  after  he  has  resolved  upon  a  reform,  with 
restraints  and  influences  which  will  tend  to  assist  him  in  main- 
taining his  word  of  honor.  I  think  we  should  establish  read- 
ing-rooms in  different  sections  of  the  city,  and  supply  them 
with  the  daily  papers,  scientific  and  mechanical  journals,  the 
leading  monthlies  and  periodicals,  where  the  workingmen  can 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  743 

assemble,  read  the  current  news  and  spend  an  evening  profit- 
ably to  themselves '  and  to  their  vocations.  I  would  connect 
with  each  of  these  reading-rooms  a  post-office  where  young 
mechanics  and  others  may  have  their  letters  and  postal  matter 
mailed  to  them,  in  that  way  inducing  an  attendance  and  popu- 
larizing the  '  walks  of  temperance.' " 

"  I  should  like  to  ask  you  a  question,  Mr.  Murphy,  which 
would  naturally  interest  the  readers  of  the  Times.  Will  the 
movement  be  connected  with  any  church  organization  in  the 
city?" 

"  Decidedly,  none  whatever.  It  is  thoroughly  Christian  in 
its  spirit,  and  all  may  co-operate  with  us  as  our  platform  is 
broad.  It  is  neither  sectarian  nor  political,  but  Christian  and 
humanitarian,  and  a  purely  temperance  movement  conducted 
on  Christian  principles." 

"  Still,  do  you  think  a  religious  movement  inseparable  from 
tempei'ance  reform  ?" 

"  I  do,  because  the  moment  a  man  becomes  sober  he  com- 
mences living  better  by  providing  for  his  family,  beautifying 
his  home,  educating  his  children,  and  experiences  a  more  sin- 
cere love  for  truth.  Religion,  to  my  mind,  really  consists  in 
living  well.  Our  temperance  movement  will  have  in  it  all 
the  elements  that  enrich  and  ennoble  human  life." 

"  How  long  do  you  propose  to  remain  in  Troy  ?" 

"  I  have  no  definite  knowledge  of  the  length  of  time,  but  will 
probably  remain  here  as  long  as  I  feel  I  can  accomplish  good." 

"  What  remuneration  are  you  to  receive  for  your  services 
in  Troy  ?" 

"  There  is  no  stated  sum ;  it  is  left  with  a  committee  of 
citizens  to  pay  me  what  they  may  see  fit  after  I  have  com- 
pleted my  labors  here,  and  however  small  the  amount,  I  assure 
you  I  shall  not  grumble." 

"  Do  you  expect  to  enlist  Christian  women  of  our  city  in 
yo(«r  enterprise,  Mr.  Murphy  ?" 

"  Certainly  I  do." 

"  How  do  you  desire  them  to  assist  you  V 


744  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK   OF 

"  I  trust  they  will  form  a  commission  with  their  headquarters 
at  some  point  in  close  proximity  to  the  hall  where  the  meet- 
ings are  held,  and  that  they  will  provide  sandwiches  for  the 
hungry  and  furnish  such  clothing  as  the  unfortunate  poor  are 
in  great  need  of." 

"  Do  you  expect  immediate  abstinence  from  the  confirmed 
inebriate  ?" 

"  No,  sir.  That  man  needs  to  be  nursed,  to  be  treated  med- 
icinally, and  receive  good  food  in  order  to  prepare  him  for  the 
.great  change  which  he  must  necessarily  undergo  before  he 
can  be  fairly  established  in  the  paths  of  temperance." 

"  Is  there  any  foundation,  Mr.  Murphy,  in  the  statement 
that  has  been  widely  circulated  by  the  press  throughout  the 
country,  to  the  effect  that  you  have  insisted  upon  the  pay- 
ment of  $200  for  each  night  you  have  lectured  ?" 

"  The  assertion  is  conspicuously  false  in  every  respect.  I 
have  never  asked  or  demanded  pay  for  services  I  have  rend- 
ered. Very  flattering  inducements  have  been  frequently 
offered  me  to  travel  through  the  countiy  as  a  lecturer,  but  my 
sense  of  right  would  not  permit  me  to  accept  such  offers. 
You  will  admit  yourself  that  the  moment  I  enlist  my  labors 
in  a  movement  for  which  I  receive  a  certain  fixed  price,  my 
work  as  a  reformer  ceases.  With  the  view  of  assisting  me 
in  my  straitened  circumstances,  the  executive  committee  oi 
the  National  Christian  Temperance  Association  made  a  series 
of  engagements  for  me  in  western  cities,  with  the  understand- 
ing that  I  was  to  be  paid  $200  a  night,  but  they  were  all  cau 
celed  by  me,  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the  committee,  for  fear 
that  it  would  hurt  the  cause  to  which  I  was  so  devoted." 

"  What  has  been  your  success  in  large  cities  ?" 

"  In  Pittsburgh  and  Alleghany  City  we  succeeded  in  three 
months  in  obtaining  95,000  signatures  to  the  pledge,  and  I  am 
informed  that  during  the  past  year  not  one  per  cent,  has 
fallen  off.  In  Philadelphia  110,000  people  signed  the  pledge 
during  my  stay  there.  Do  not  be  discouraged,  bright  times 
are  coming  for  Troy,  and  I  am  convinced  they  are  not  far  off." 


FEANCIS    MURPHY.  745 

"What  do  you  think  of  Father  Mathew  as  a  reformer?" 

"  I  think  he  was  the  greatest  benefactor  that  God  ever  gave 
to  Ireland.  I  have  met  with  many  of  my  countrymen  who 
signed  the  pledge  with  Father  Mathew,  and  who  have  faith- 
fully kept  it,  and  as  a  result,  they  have  paid  for  their  homes, 
educated  their  children,  and  are  now  honored  and  respected 
citizens." 

"  What  are  your  impressions  of  John  B.  Gough  ?" 

"  He  is  second  to  none  as  a  reformer.  He  is  one  who  has 
always  yielded  obedience  to  the  subject  as  God  has  given  him 
to  see  it.  He  is  not  jealous  or  envious — he  is  too  great  in  him- 
self to  be  jealous  of  any  man." 

Francis  Murphy's  initial  meeting  in  Troy  was  a  most  re- 
markable one.  The  audience  room  of  the  City  Hall  was 
crowded  to  an  uncomfortable  degree  ;  and  it  was  estimated 
fully  1,000  persons  were  utterly  unable  to  get  even  within 
hearing  of  the  great  speaker,  and  consequently  were  obliged 
to  go  away. 

The  reception  given  to  Mr.  Murphy  was  hearty  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  plainly  indicated  what  feelings  he  aroused  wherever 
he  went.  His  heart  must  have  felt  very  glad  at  the  success  of 
the  opening  day  of  his  work  here.  His  address  consisted 
chiefly  of  a  rapid  sketch  of  his  life  ;  and  was  replete  with  pas- 
sionate and  eloquent  appeals  to  his  hearers.  Many  of  his  de 
scriptions  were  so  pathetic  that  persons  wept  unreserved-ly. 
Now  and  then  he  would  lapse  into  a  full,  rich  brogue,  and  tell 
some  humorous  story  that  would  set  the  audience  into  peals  of 
hearty  laughter. 

The  opening  part  of  Mr.  Murphy's  inaugural  address  to  the 
people  of  Troy,  we  give  as  follows  : 
"  Ladies  and  Gentlemen  : 

"My  dear  friends,  I  thank  you  again  and  again  for  this  royal 
reception  to  the  city  of  Troy,  and  I  assure  you  all  1  have  a 
heai't  that  feels  and  a  memory  that  docs  not  forget.  The 
welcome  I  have  received  from  your  clergy  will  be  a  bene- 
diction for  a-11  time  to  come.  I  have  met  your  mayor,  and  a 
33 


746  THE  LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

more  agreeable  reception  I  have  never  experienced.  I  am 
proud  that  he  is  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  city  ;  that  he  is 
an  Irishman,  and  that  his  name  is  Murphy.  I  love  my  country 
and  my  countrymen — I  don't  go  behind  the  bush  to  conceal  it 
— and  it  is  always  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  see  their 
Thames  high  up  on  the  roll  of  honor. 

"  For  the  past  week  I  have  been  in  your  city  resting,  and  I 
am  delighted  with  its  general  appearance.  Looking  at  the 
long  rows  of  trees  on  either  side  of  the  streets,  I  thought  how 
beautiful  they  must  have  looked  as  the  green  clasped  the  green 
across  them.  Troy  is  certainly  a  grand  place  to  live  in,  situate 
as  it  is  close  to  the  noble  Hudson  and  overshadowed  by 
mountains  like  Jerusalem.  It  is  worth  a  lifetime  to  be  intro- 
duced to  such  an  interested  audience  upon  an  occasion  similar 
to  this,  and  the  grand  exhibition  at  Philadelphia  did  not  pre- 
sent as  glorious  a  spectacle.  It  was  with  great  satisfaction 
that  I  had  an  interview  with  my  dear  friend,  Father  Haver- 
mans,  and  received  his  blessing  and  God-speed  in  the  move- 
ment I  came  here  to  inaugurate.  It  is  my  purpose,  in  coming 
here,  to  do  good,  if  possible. 

"  I  have  no  unkind  word  for  liquor  dealers.  If  men  stop 
drinking  whisky,  its  sale  will  cease.  With  peace  on  earth  and 
good  will  towards  all  men,  we  are  here,  believing  that  we  can 
only  accomplish  good  by  introducing  God's  love  and  mercy. 
I  have  a  request  to  make — that  you  will  pray  for  me,  and  that 
all  I  do  and  say  will  be  prompted  by  God's  spirit. 

"  My  theme  this  afternoon  is  real  life,  in  which  I  myself  am 
chiefly  concerned.  Life  has  always  furnished  stranger  stories 
than  romance,  and  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction.  On  April  24, 
1836,  I  was  born  in  the  southern  part  of  Ireland  in  the  county 
of  Wexford.  My  home  was  an  humble  little  thatched  cottage 
sitting  upon  a  grassy  mound  overlooking  the  sea.  Although 
separated  from  that  humble  place  for  more  than  twenty  years, 
and  to-night  by  thousands  of  miles,  I  look  back  to  the  sacred 
spot  and  in  imagination  see  it  as  it  was.  Well  do  I  remember 
my  sainted  mother  kneeling  by  my  side  in  prayer  and  asking 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  747 

God  to  watch  over  and  protect  me.  Well  do  I  remember  how 
often  I  stood  in  the  little  cottage  door,  looked  out  on  the 
bright  bosom  of  the  sea  and  watched  the  vessels  pass  and  rcpass 
with  their  snowy  white  sails,  toward  the  land  of  the  brave  and 
the  home  of  the  free.  I  had  heard  of  this  wonderful  country 
with  its  templed  hills,  its  golden  mines,  until  my  young  heart 
thirsted  and  longed  for  the  time  to  come  when  I  might  sail  for 
the  land  of  liberty. 

'•'But  this  seemed  to  me  like  hoping  against  fate,  for  we  were 
poor  and  had  to  struggle  with  poverty — to  fight  against  it  and 
drive  it  out  of  the  house  as  best  we  could.  I  trust  you  who 
are  before  me  this  afternoon  are  not  afflicted  with  that  disease, 
but  we  were  peculiarly  troubled  with  it  in  the  little  cottage 
'beyant  the  say.'  In  an  humble  way — following  reapers  in 
the  fields  and  gathering  the  sheaves — I  began  to  earn  my  living, 
but  right  here  I  want  to  say,  young  men,  do  not  be  ashamed  of 
honest  labor.  Whatever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do  that  is  honor- 
able, do  it  with  thy  might,  with  all  thy  strength,  and  the  bless- 
ing of  Him  who  made  us  in  the  express  image  of  Himself  will 
crown  your  efforts  with  success. 

"  Don't  stand  with  folded  hands  calling  upon  Hercules  for  as- 
sistance, but  take  the  help  of  honeat  labor  and  let  it  lead  you, 
whether  it  is  in  the  workshop,  the  office,  or  in  the  furrowed 
field.  Shame  upon  you  who  are  waiting  for  an  uncle  to  die  to 
leave  you  money,  but  with  a  brave  heart  stand  out  and  earn 
your  bread  by  the  sweat  of  your  brow.  The  secret  of  a  suc- 
cessful life  and  honest  manhood  is  to  live  within  your  income. 

"  The  feeling  of  being  obliged  to  turn  around  and  walk  in 
an  opposite  direction  when  you  see  a  creditor  coming  towards 
you,  is  not  an  agreeable  one.  Whatever  you  pledge  your  word 
of  honor  to  do,  do  it  like  a  man,  but  be  careful  what  you 
pledge.  It  is  the  man  who  has  the  will,  the  courage,  the  kingly 
nobility  within  him  to  take  part  manfully  in  the  battle  of  life 
that  will  work  out  his  own  salvation  successfully.  It  is  the 
man  who  will  stand  up  like  a  man  amongst  men  and  earn  his 
own  bread." 


748  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

The  remainder  of  the  oration  was  devoted  to  a  sketch  of  his 
own  career,  the  details  of  which  have  already  been  given  in 
this  book.  After  the  address  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Taylor  sang  "  Hold 
the  Fort  "  in  a  stirring  fashion,  all  joining  in  the  chorus.  The 
evening  session  of  the  same  day  was  signalized  by  brief 
speeches  by  Col.  Caldwell  and  Eccles  Robinson.  The  former 
said  : 

"  Thomas  De  Quincy,  in  one  of  his  essays,  remarked  that 
'  When  eagles  soared  to  heaven,  bats  and  owls  should  retire  to 
their  dens  ; '  and  after  you  have  listened  to  the  grand  efforts 
of  Francis  Murphy  this  afternoon,  it  seems  almost  sacrilegious 
that  I  should  say  a  single  word  to  this  audience.  But  Mr. 
Murphy  is  not  a  flowing  well,  and  cannot  talk  all  the  time,  so 
I  am  here  to  speak  upon  the  subject  of  temperance.  I  must 
preface  my  remarks  by  saying  that  I  am  only  a  young  con- 
vert to  the  cause.  For  fifty-five  years  I  lived  without  sign- 
ing a  total  abstinence  pledge,  and  I  confess  I  didn't  believe  in 
it  ;  and  to  a  certain  extent  I  made  use  of  spirituous  liquors.  I 
held  with  indifference  those  who  gave  their  support  to  the 
temperance  cause,  and  looked  upon  it  as  a  movement  in  which 
pious  Christian  women  might  with  propriety  interest  them- 
selves. It  always  seemed  to  me  that  the  temperance  adherents 
or  followers  commenced  by  denouncing  liquor  sellers  and 
declaring  that  those  who  drank  intoxicating  beverages  should 
be  kept  at  arm's  length,  while  the  sellers  themselves  were  lost 
beyond  all  prayers.  I  was  informed  by  these  partisans  that  all 
drinkers,  together  with  the  dealers,  were  scoundrels  and  ruf- 
fians, and  outside  of  the  pale  of  redemption.  Now,  as  I  myself 
was  engaged  in  the  business,  I  did  not,  as  you  may  imagine, 
particularly  appreciate  these  tirades.  About  a  year  ago  I 
heard  of  an  Irishman  in  Pittsburgh,  named  Francis  Murphy, 
who  preached  there  in  behalf  of  the  '  cold  water '  cause  under 
the  motto  *  Malice  toward  none,  Charity  for  all,'  and  I  was 
somewhat  struck  with  the  difference  between  his  platform  and 
that  of  other  reformers.  The  good  temperance  people  of 
Elraira  prosecuted  the  poor,  insignificant  rum-sellers  who  were 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  740 

running  their  small  shops  in  violation  of  the  license  law.  This 
action,  of  course,  pleased  us  large  dealers,  and  we  approved  of 
this  course  because  it  naturally  added  to  our  business  consider- 
ably. Hearing  of  Murphy's  motto,  with  the  mantle  of  charity 
thrown  around  it,  I  determined  to  listen  to  this  man  if  he  ever 
visited  my  city. 

"  My  wife  expressed  the  wish  that  I  should  attend  a  temper- 
ance meeting  given  in  Elmira  last  winter,  and  presided  orer 
by  a  young  man  named  Eccles  Robinson,  who  is  here  and  will 
address  you  to-night.  If  you  can  show  me  a  wife  who  does 
not  want  her  husband  a  total  abstinence  man  I  will  show  you 
a  curiosity !  I  will  not  recite  the  particulars  of  my  signing 
the  pledge,  and  the  earnest  solicitations  of  my  wife  urging  me 
to  take  the  step.  I  had  always  been  previous  to  that  time 
what  is  generally  termed  a  moderate,  drinker  ;  but  there  are 
many  who  go  down  to  their  graves,  killed  by  drink,  believing 
they,  too,  are  only  '  moderate  '  drinkers.  The  only  safety  is  in 
total  abstinence. 

"  It  is  a  most  singular  fact  that  the  two  men  who  have  accom- 
plished the  most  good  for  the  cause  of  temperance  are  both 
Irishmen,  Father  Mathew  and  this  gentlemen  on  my  left, 
Francis  Murphy. 

"  Father  Mathew  administered  the  total  abstinence  pledge 
with  the  solemnity  of  a  saint,  and  gave  to  the  ceremony  all  the 
sanction  of  the  church,  the  oldest  Christian  church  of  the 
world.  He  went  through  all  Ireland  with  the  pledge,  and 
gave  it  as  a  benediction  to  thousands  upon  thousands  of 
people.  Not  satisfied  with  this,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  and 
reared  a  monument  to  his  goodness  and  love  here  that  will 
last  while  countless  ages  shall  roll  by.  Father  Mathew  not 
only  preached  temperance,  but  he  persuaded  men  in  words  of 
love  and  charity  to  sign  the  pledge  and  become  better  men. 
The  hundreds  of  '  Father  Mathew  total  abstinence  societies ' 
all  over  our  land  attest  that  though  dead  he  yet  speaketh. 

"Francis  Murphy,  like  this  famed  Irish  priest,  goes  with  the 
pledge  in  one  hand  and  the  religion  of  the  Bible  in  the  other, 


750  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OP 

and  preaches  that,  with  '  Malice  toward  none,  with  Charity  to 
all,'  men  engaged  in  the  traffic  of  intoxicating  liquors  and 
those  who  drink  the  same  are  all  to  be  saved  by  preaching 
words  of  love  and  kindness.  And  so  these  two  Irishmen, 
Father  Mathew  and  Francis  Murphy,  will  stand  in  history  as 
the  two  greatest  temperance  reformers  of  this  age. 

"  They  have  done  more  for  the  cause  than  all  of  the  lecturers 
combined.  While  John  B.  Gough  is  a  great  orator  his  actual 
results  among  the  people  cannot  be  compared  with  those  of  the 
other  two.  Both  of  the  latter  join  with  their  work  the  relig- 
ious spirit.  Mr.  Murphy,  the  advocate  of  gospel  temperance, 
comes  to  this  city,  feeling  that  he  is  commissioned  by  heaven 
to  undertake  and  carry  out  this  good  work.  He  does  not  come 
for  the  purpose  of  advancing  or  injuring  the  interests  of  any 
political  party,  nor  is  he  here  under  the  auspices  of  any  religious 
sect  or  denomination  ;  but  he  comes  here  to  preach  from  the 
platform  of  Christ — to  induce  men  to  come  forward  and  sign 
the  pledge.  God  forbid  that  I  should  say  anything  to  injure 
the  feelings  of  other  temperance  reformers  or  workers  who 
have  labored  so  hard  for  the  cause,  but  I  feel  they  have  all 
been  too  long  in  the  same  rut,  and  should  get  out  of  it.  You 
well  remember  the  parable  of  the  fishermen  who  cast  their  nets 
upon  one  side  of  their  boat  and  were  unsuccessful,  and  follow- 
ing the  counsel  of  Jesus  they  tried  the  other  side  and  were 
rewarded  by  an  immense  haul.  It  is  the  same  with  other 
temperance  reformers,  they  have  been  fishing  on  the  wrong 
side,  while  Father  Mathew  and  Francis  Murphy  have  been 
casting  their  nets  upon  the  right  side  with  success. 

"  I  believe  there  are  men  here  to-night  who  want  to  break  off 
intemperate  habits  and  all  they  require  is  a  friendly  hand  to 
assist  them.  We  have  not  come  here  to  save  confirmed  inebri- 
ates alone,  but  we  want  to  rescue  the  young  men  who  labor 
under  the  impression  that  it  is  something  manty  to  drink 
liquor.  W  3  have  come  here,  too,  in  the  name  of  Christ,  to  save 
the  hard  working  mechanics  who  spend  their  money  for  rum 
instead  of  carrying  it  home  to  their  wives  ;  to  save  the  nioder- 


FEANCIS    MT7KPHY.  751 

ate  drinkers,  and  in  fact  to  save  all  who  are  addicted  to  intem- 
perate habits.  We  ask  the  co-operation  of  you  all — the  clergy, 
laymen  and  the  public  press,  which  spreads  in  the  community 
the  results  of  the  good  work  as  they  occur.  Give  us,  my  dear 
friends,  your  prayers  and  efforts  in  this  good  work.  Good- 
night." 

The  remarks  of  Eccles  Robinson  at  the  same  meeting  were 
these  : 

"  Friends :  It  is  with  great  trepidation  that  I  speak  to  you 
to-night,  but  I  am  willing  to  do  anything  in  my  feeble  power 
to  save  young  men  from  doing  as  I  have  done.  To  this  class 
I  particularly  address  myself  and  desire  their  attention.  The 
old  Connecticut  '  blue '  law,  which  prohibited  a  husband  kiss- 
ing his  wife  on  Sunday,  was  evaded  by  husbands  kissing  other 
people's  wives  upon  that  day,  and  in  the  same  way  all  legisla- 
tion in  the  matter  of  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  may  be 
dodged.  The  drinking  men  I  do  not  consider  the  worst  in 
your  community,  though  they  are  marked  by  society,  while 
rich  men  committing  greater  crimes  are  upheld  and  tolerated. 
Let  us  with  the  spirit  of  charity  do  all  we  can  for  the  drinking 
men,  and  exert  our  utmost  to  save  fallen  victims. 

"  Parents  should  not  set  temptations  before  their  children. 
When  I  was  young  I  had  the  best  of  resolutions  and  never 
expected  to  fall  as  low  as  I  subsequently  did.  I  remember 
being  called  before  President  McCosh  after  a  spree  and  told 
by  him  that  I  must  leave  college.  I  tried  to  induce  him  to 
give  me  another  chance  to  reform,  pledging  myself  that  I 
would  be  a  man  among  men,  but  he  said  '  No.'  After  leav- 
ing college  I  returned  to  my  home  in  Pittsburgh,  and  though 
I  made  many  good  resolves  I  could  not  withstand  the  tempta- 
tion to  drink.  I  even  went  out  West  upon  the  plains  in  order 
to  overcome,  if  possible,  the  fearful  appetite,  but  without  suc- 
cess. At  last  I  became  friendless  and  penniless  in  the  streets. 
The  only  friend  true  to  me  through  all  my  misery  was  my 
wife.  For  three  weeks  I  kept  a  saloon  in  Pittsburgh,  but  the 
following  circumstance  induced  me  to  give  up  the  business. 


752  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

One  night  I  played  cards  and  drank  liquor  with  a  young  me- 
chanic until  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  he  left  me  under 
the  influence  of  the  drug.  The  next  morning  I  heard  that  he 
had  been  killed  while  coupling  cars  at  the  depot,  and  I  felt 
that  I  was  partly  responsible  for  his  death. 

"  Last  Christmas  my  physician  said  '  Your  constitution  is 
gone,  you  must  soon  die,  and  I  would  advise  you  to  make  your 
preparations  for  that  event.'  It  was  at  that  time  I  met  Mr. 
Murphy,  who  told  me  by  the  exercise  of  my  will  and  God's 
grace  I  could  become  a  sober  man  and  do  some  good  in  the 
community.  By  the  grace  of  the  Lord,  I  am  now  a  free  man 
and  will  die  one,  and  the  shackles  are  not  forged  that  can  bind 
me  down  again  to  the  curse  of  intemperance." 

The  result  of  the  morning  meeting  was  a  perfect  headlong 
rush  to  the  stage,  of  people  who  wished  to  sign  the  pledge, 
Mr.  Murphy  encouraging  them  with  kindly  and  inspiring 
words.  Over  three  hundred  then  and  there  subscribed  and 
quitted  the  hall,  decorated  with  the  bit  of  blue  ribbon,  which 
is  the  emblem  of  open  adherence  to  the  temperance  cause,  as 
organized  in  the  Murphy  leagues. 

In  the  evening,  the  crowd  was  fully  as  great  and  clamorous 
for  seats  as  that  of  the  afternoon,  and  far  more  enthusiastic. 

After  the  sweet  hymn,  "  I  Will  Sing  of  My  Redeemer," 
was  rendered,  Mr.  Murphy  stepped  forward  and  said,  in  a 
most  touching  way  :  "  I  thank  God  for  this  sweet  music,  and 
the  man  who  penned  those  beautiful  lines.  My  friends,  the 
lady  who  just  sang  was  the  sister  of  the  late  Mr.  Bliss,  the 
composer  of  the  song/'  Mrs.  Wilson  was  affected  to  tears. 

Col.  Luther  Caldwe,i  was  introduced  to  the  audience  in  a 
most  friendly  fashion  by  Mr.  Murphy  as  a  "  Christian  gentle- 
man, an  ex-officer  in  the  rebellion,  and  late  mayor  of  the  city  of 
Eimira,  who  possesses  one  of  the  greatest  hearts  I  have  en- 
countered." 

The  remarks  made  by  the  gallant  colonel,  which  we  have 
abeady  given,  were  listened  to  with  deep  interest,  and  were  so 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  753 

full  of  common  sense  and  sound  logic,  and  withal  so  genial, 
that  he  was  much  applauded. 

As  he  is  a  prominent  figure  in  the  cause,  our  disgression 
will  be  pardoned  and  appreciated  by  the  kind  reader,  before 
whom  we  place  the  following  faithful  description  of  the  colo- 
nel's tout  ensemble,  quoted  from  an  excellent  authority  :  "  He 
is  about  fifty-four  years  of  age,  and  of  medium  height ;  of 
full  proportions,  and  rather  inclines  to  stoutness  ;  with  an 
open,  genial  face,  clearly  showing  the  kindly  spirit  possessed 
by  its  owner  ;  with  a  strong,  powerful  voice,  which  could  be 
heard  in  every  part  of  the  hall ;  with  a  clear,  bright  eye,  and 
a  pleasant  smile,  that  seemed  to  exert  a  magnetic  influence 
upon  his  listeners,  and  an  earnestness  in  delivery  which 
rivited  the  attention  of  all." 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wilson  sang  that  beautiful  song,  entitled,  "  I 
am  on  the  Lord's  side,  Bless  the  Lord  ;"  after  which  Mr.  Mur- 
Murphy  said  he  "  took  great  pleasure  in  introducing  to  the 
audience  a  young  man  who  had  a  fortune  left  him  of  $70,000, 
which  he  threw  away  in  three  years  in  dissipation.  He  be- 
came tired  and  weary  of  life,  but  he  was  induced  to  reform, 
and  is  now  a  most  conscientious  worker  for  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance ;  and  through  his  instrumentality  thousands  had 
signed  the  pledge." 

This  young  man  was  Eccles  Robinson,  who  had  conducted 
so  very  successfully  a  Murphy  movement  in  the  city  of  El- 
mira.  He  received  a  warm  reception.  He  is  a  man  of  about 
twenty-seven  years  of  age,  and  possesses  an  impressive  man- 
ner and  very  earnest  delivery.  The  audience  betrayed. an 
almost  breathl  ^ss  attention  as  it  listened  to  his  telling  recital 
of  his  experien  ;es,  and  fruitless  efforts  to  break  off  from  the 
habit  of  intemperance. 

After  a  j  athetic  song  from  the  Wilsons,  Mr.  Murphy  spoke 
for  twenty  minutes  in  a  most  stirring  and  effective  manner, 
carrying  the  immense  concourse  of  people  with  him  from  his 
first  words  to  his  last. 

The  people  sat  spell-bound  under  his  wonderful  magnetic 
82* 


754  THE  LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

influence.  His  naturally  fine  dramatic  powers  were  fully  de- 
veloped in  the  descriptions  of  intemperance  as  a  venomous 
serpent ;  and  when  in  closing  he  asked  all  present  to  step  for- 
ward and  take  the  pledge,  certainly,  hundreds  upon  hundreds 
did  so.  One  thousand  persons  signed  the  pledge  that  memo- 
rable day  in  Troy. 

The  meeting  on  Wednesday  was  greater  in  attendance,  and 
even  more  successful  than  any  of  the  previous  ones.  The 
City  Hall  was  perfectly  jammed,  containing  fully  one  thou- 
sand four  hundred  persons. 

Mr.  Murphy's  address  was  very  effective.  In  speaking  of 
liquor  sellers,  he  said,  "  You  cannot  induce  these  men  to  close 
their  saloons  by  vituperation  or  abuse.  They  must  be  dealt 
with  in  an  entirely  different  way.  They  will  not  stop  selling 
liquors  until  men  cease  drinking  them,  and  there  is  no  demand. 
Social  companionship  induces  many  to  become  intoxicated, 
brought  about  by  the  system  observed  when  there  is  a  large 
party  together,  of  '  setting  'em  up,  and  down  they  go.'  It-  is 
only  on  account  of  the  demand  that  saloons  exist. 

"  I  tell  you,  my  friends,"  said  Mr.  Murphy,  "  you  can  tell 
of  the  strength,  culture  and  refinement  of  a  people  by  the  ap- 
pearance the  city  in  which  they  live  presents.  If  you  go  to 
saloon  keepers  and  vent  abuse  directly  at  them,  the  probabili- 
ties are  you  will  b«  forcibly  ejected  from  their  establishments, 
and  the  saying  that  'more  flies  can  be  caught  by  molasses  than 
by  vinegar,'  is  true  in  regard  to  liquor  sellers. 

"  The  world  is  to  be  saved  by  kindness,  and  in  no  other  way. 
How  many  are  saved  who  are  turned  out  of  jails  and  State 
prisons  ?  But  men  who  believe  in  and  practice  mercy  towards 
the  fallen,  have  saved  many  by  affectionate  words  and  looks." 

After  Mr.  Murphy  had  resumed  his  seat  and  the  sweet 
singers,  the  Wilsons,  had  sung,  Col.  Caldwell  introduced 
Edward  Murphy,  the  son  of  the  temperance  apostle,  to  tho 
audience.  The  young  man  was  greeted  with  a  hearty  burst  of 
applause. 

He  delivered  a  pithy  and  able  address  of  fifteen  minutes' 


FRANCIS    MtTRPHY.  755 

duration,  which  showed  him  to  be  the  fortunate  possessor  of  the 
natural  oratorical  abilities  and  fluency  so  prominent  in  his  father. 

An  overflow  meeting  was  held  in  Dr.  Baldwin's  church  ad- 
joining the  City  Hall,  which  was  an  ovation  in  its  way.  The 
sacred  edifice  was  crowded,  and  the  people  were  very  demon- 
strative. 

Mr.  Murphy,  Col.  Caldwell,  and  Eccles  Robinson  addressed 
the  people,  and  were  received  with  marked  favor  and  a  great 
deal  of  genuine  enthusiasm. 

The  Saturday  night  meeting  was  made  doubly  interesting 
by  the  brief  and  telling  speeches  of  the  reformed  men.  No 
one  could  doubt  the  good  Mr.  Murphy  had  already  done  when 
one  saw  the  hardest  drinkers  in  the  city  standing  before  an  im- 
mense audience,  and  confessing  their  desire  for  reformation. 

Gilbert  McMasters,  an  attorney  at  law,  of  Pittsburgh,  and  a 
most  zealous  laborer  in  the  noble  cause,  was  introduced  by 
Mr.  Murphy,  who  said  he  was  a  recent  convert,  and  told  what 
good  he  had  done.  Mr.  McMasters'  remarks  were  to  the 
point,  and  delivered  in  a'n  earnest  manner,  enlisted  the  atten- 
tion and  interest  of  the  audience  in  his  behalf. 

Angelo  Packard,  of  Troy,  and  a  recent  convert,  was  brought 
forward  by  the  apostle,  and  spoke  in  the  following  feeling 
manner  : 
"Ladles  and  Gentlemen: 

"  I  have  never  before  addressed  an  audience,  and  it  is  with 
no  small  degree  of  trepidation  that  I  take  my  position  upon  this 
platform  to-night.  If  I  can  say  anything  which  will  be  pro- 
ductive of  good,  I  shall  consider  myself  amply  repaid.  I  was 
a  drinking  inai>i  and  used  intoxicating  liquor  steadily  for  three 
or  four  years.  I  nearly  broke  the  hearts  of  my  mother  and 
my  wife,  and  my  friends  all  lost  their  respect  for  me.  My 
appetite  became  so  strong  that  I  drank  each  day  from  thirty 
to  forty  glasses,  and  robbed  my  family  of  means  for  support. 
A  gentleman  yesterday  said  to  me,  '  Why,  Packard,  you  are 
a  fool  to  give  yourself  away,  nobody  knew  that  you  were  a 
drinking  man.'  But  I  tell  you,  somebody  did  know  I  drank. 


756  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

My  parents  knew  I  drank,  and  so  did  my  wife.  Some  of  you 
may  say  I  am  going  to  break  my  pledge,  but  I  think  there  is 
no  power  that  could  induce  me  to  do  so  ;  and  I  earnestly 
appeal  to  all  young  men  to  come  forward  and  do  as  I  have 
done." 

Mr.  Murphy  next  introduced  Andrew  J.  Felter,  a  well- 
known  mechanic,  whose  appearance  upon  the  platform  created 
great  surprise  among  the  audience,  arid  caused  loud  and  pro- 
longed applause.  "  Though  his  remarks  were  short,"  says  an 
excellent  authority,  u  they  were  delivered  in  a  straightfor- 
ward, honest  way,  and  were  doubtless  more  effective  than  a 
long,  scholarly  effort  from  Gough  would  have  proved  undei 
the  circumstances."  Pie  said  :  "  I  never  made  a  speech  before 
in  my  life,  unless  it  was  in  a  bar-room.  When  Mr.  Murphy 
came  here,  I  attended  the  first  meeting,  took  the  pledge,  and 
by  the  help  of  God,  I  mean  to  keep  it." 

Henry  C.  Ellis  was  well  known  in  Troy  as  a  man  over-fond 
of  his  cup.  Not  unfrequently  did  he  figure  in  the  police 
courts.  When  he,  after  Mr.  Murphy's  introduction,  advanced 
on  the  platform,  the  audience  was  very  much  amazed.  He 
received  a  burst  of  deafening  applause.  He  said  :  "  I  was  in- 
duced to  sign  the  pledge  last  night  through  remarks  made  by 
this  gentleman  (pointing  to  Mr.  Murphy),  which  touched  my 
heart.  Some  people  say,  '  You  cannot  keep  it.'  Why,  here  I 
have  kept  it  already  twenty-four  hours.  Thank  God  I  am 
here,  and  I  propose  to  keep  the  pledge  in  spite  of  whatever 
may  be  said  to  me." 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  this  meeting  was 
the  conversion  of  a  mute,  who  held  quite  an  animated  and 
long  conversation  with  Mr.  Murphy,  through  the  aid  of  an 
interpreter.  The  crowds  were  so  large  that  a  plan  had  to  be 
devised  to  accommodate  them  ;  so  it  was  agreed  to  have 
separate  neetings  for  children.  The  first  matinee  was  held 
on  Saturday  afternoon,  and  was  very  largely  attended  by  the 
Troy  youth,  accompanied  by  their  mothers.  Considerable 
juvenile  enthusiasm  among  the  audience  was  manifested  dur- 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  757 

ing  the  cheery  and  pleasant  "  talks,"  delivered  by  Thomas 
Cooper,  of  Pittsburgh,  Mrs.  Wilson,  the  vocalist,  and  Col. 
Luther  Caldwell. 

On  Wednesday  night,  November  30,  the  City  Hall  was  un- 
comfortably crowded,  and  the  people  demonstrated  that  the 
interest  Francis  Murphy  had  aroused  in  Troy  was  not  of 
a  transitory  character.  Thomas  E.  Murphy,  son  of  the  tem- 
perance advocate,  conducted  the  overflow  meeting  at  the 
Third  Street  Baptist  Church,  with  considerable  success.  It 
was  very  largely  attended,  and  the  speeches  made  by  Col. 
Caldwell,  Capt.  Lyons,  of  Elmira,  and  others  were  greeted 
with  frequent  and  marked  expressions  of  hearty  approval. 

Francis  Murphy  made  one  of  his  forcible  and  characteristic 
speeches  in  which  he  said  he  thoroughly  believed  in  a  republic  ; 
that  it  was  possible  for  one  to  heal  and  correct  all  the  wrongs 
that  affect  society.  The  recent  slavery  in  the  South  and  its 
abolition  was  cited  as  an  example;  but  the  slavery  which 
whisky  brings  upon  people  entails  more  suffering  and  sorrow 
than  was  the  oppression  of  the  colored  race.  The  laws  of 
human  life  denounced  the  institution  of  slavery,  and  that 
noble  patriot,  John  Brown,  suffered  death  for  the  position  he 
assumed  and  maintained  upon  the  subject.  It  was  this  man 
who  first  raised  his  voice  in  favor  of  emancipation  of  the  col- 
ored man  and  while  on  his  way  to  the  gallows,  the  morning  he 
was  executed,  he  met  a  little  colored  child,  whom  he  kissed, 
saying;  "  I  die  for  you,  my  boy !  "  This  talk  relative  to 
the  emancipation  of  the  negro  was  received  with  great  ap- 
plause. 

Mr.  Murphy,  after  his  address,  introduced  a  Pittsburgh  con- 
vert by  the  name  of  McCurry,  who  said  he  was  thankful  he 
could  bring  good  news  to  them.  He  had  been  laboring  for 
some  time  past  at  Little  Falls,  in  the  temperance  cause  ;  the 
battle  had  been  hard,  but  by  prayer  and  earnest  work,  the 
walls  had  been  scaled  and  the  struggle  had  resulted  success' 
fully.  Seventeen  hundred  signers  to  the  pledge  had  beeu 
secured,  hundreds  were  continuing  to  take  their  places  in  the 


758  THE  LIFE  AND   WOKK   OF 

ranks  of  gospel  temperance,  and  in  a  few  more  days  the  vil- 
lage would  be  rescued  entirely  from  intemperance. 

Mr.  Myers,  a  gentleman  from  Pittsburgh,  followed,  who 
said  he  supposed  he  could  control  his  appetite,  but  found  out 
his  mistake  by  an  experience  which  induced  him  to  sign  the 
total  abstinence  pledge.  While  on  a  visit  South,  he  was  in- 
vited to  dinner  with  a  friend,  and  partook  so  freely  of  apple 
brandy — the  effects  of  which  he  did  not  understand — that  he 
discovered  his  inability  to  leave  his  chair.  He  thought  he  was 
drunk  ;  in  fact  he  knew  he  was  drunk.  In  a  similar  way,  said 
the  speaker,  you  will  be  tripped  up  in  your  good  morals  unless 
you  put  your  name  to  the  pledge. 

Henry  C.  Ellis,  who  has  contributed  not  a  little  to  the  in- 
terest of  the  meetings  by  the  entertaining  and  very  character- 
istic way  in  which  he  recited  some  of  the  thrilling  experiences 
of  his  eventful  life,  was  next  called  upon,  and  made  a  short 
address.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  remarks  there  was  great 
applause,  and  Mr.  Murphy  called  for  three  cheers  from  the 
audience,  which  were  given  in  a  style  which  certainly  must 
have  pleased  the  ex-drunkard,  Henry  C.  Ellis. 

Col.  Caldwell  perused  an  epistle  he  had  just  received  from 
the  proprietor  of  the  Elmira  Advertiser,  informing  him  that 
James  Gilson,  his  bar-tender  when  he  owned  the  Rathbun 
House,  had  signed  the  pledge,  and  given  up  the  business. 

Capt.  Lyons  next  addressed  the  audience  in  a  telling  manne* 
describing  his  degraded  condition  previous  to  his  conversion 
to  the  cause  of  total  abstinence,  and  in  a  very  demonstrative 
way  advised  all  young  men  to  sign  the  pledge,  and  avoid  the 
manifold  perils  of  rum. 

The  services  on  Thanksgiving  night  were  unusually  inter- 
esting. The  weather  was  exceedingly  inclement,  and  it  was 
feared  few  would  brave  the  storm  to  listen  to  temperance 
talk  ;  but  the  hall  was  as  full  as  ever,  and  even  standing  room 
was  considered  desirable. 

"  Real  merit,"  Francis  Murphy  said,  "was  the  test  of  dis- 
cipleship."  Every  upright  person  in  this  country  could  climb 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  "59 

up  the  rugged  way  to  success,  step  by  step,  and  though  very 
weary  at  times,  the  blessed  thought  that  he  was  a  man  would 
steadily  urge  him  on,  and  at  last  permit  him  to  stand  on  the 
summit  of  prosperity  "crowned  with  eternal  sun."  Our 
country  was  the  grandest  in  the  world,  continued  the  speaker, 
and  it  did  not  take  him  long  after  reaching  New  York  to  learn 
the  energy  and  activity  of  the  Yankee  temperament  together 
with  the  busy  struggle  everywhere  to  amass  wealth.  In  fact,  this 
country  could  be  compared  to  the  rest  of  the  world  as  a  watch- 
spring  to  the  mechanism  of  a  time-keeper.  He  referred  in  a 
forcible  way  to  our  ancestors  who,  though  numbering  but  three 
and  a  half  millions,  were  determined  to  free  themselves  from 
the  old  world,  which  they  did  nobly.  Are  we  to  become  free 
men,  to  obtain  a  freedom  greater  than  that  of  our  forefathers  ? 
Nearly,  if  not  quite,  said  Mr.  Murphy,  5,000,000  people  in  this 
country  had  already  signed  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence.  It 
was  the  duty  of  all  to  do  what  they  could  towards  bringing 
about  this  temperance  reform.  No  one  should  falter  in  their 
faith  or  trust  in  the  One  who  protected  their  fathers  in  the 
beautiful  land  given  them.  This  country  is  ours,  and  like  the 
army  in  blue  that  marched  down  South  with  the  cry,  "  we  are 
coming  500,000  more,"  our  shout  will  be,  "we  are  coming 
45,000,000  strong"  to  drive  rum  from  the  land  saved  by  the 
hand  of  God. 

The  Hon.  Robert  Love,  ex-mayor  of  Steubenville,  Ohio,  fol- 
lowed in  a  clever  and  impressive  speech,  substantially  as  fol- 
lows : 

He  said  he  was  a  sinner  saved  by  grace,  and  there  was  no 
man  in  Troy  who  had  suffered  more  from  the  effects  of  intern 
perance  than  himself  ;  that  the  past  year  of  total  abstinence 
had  been  the  happiest  of  his  life.  Look  at  the  effects  of  rum 
upon  this  country,  and  take  warning.  He  pitied  from  the 
depths  of  his  heart  confirmed  drunkards  and  liquor-sellers,  but 
he  thought  the  only  way  to  win  them  to  the  side  of  temperance 
was  by  kindness,  for  law  by  its  penalties  and  the  vituperation 
of  hate  had  alike  proved  unavailing.  Let  us  raise  the  banner 


?60  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

of  "  Malice  towards  none  and  Charity  for  all,"  and  we  shall 
finally  stand  by  the  grave  of  the  curse  intemperance  and  sing, 
"  Hallelujah,  'tis  done." 

George  Hall,  formerly  a  gambler  and  saloon-keeper  at 
Pittsburgh,  next  addressed  the  audience.  He  thanked  God 
he  was  able  to  stand  upon  that  platform  a  sober  man  and  in 
his  right  mind.  He  had  sold  liquor  and  kept  gambling-houses, 
but  he  was  glad  to  say  he  was  out  of  the  business  entirely. 
He  did  not  make  this  remark  with  any  wish  to  injure  the  feel- 
ings of  those  present  in  the  audience  who  sold  whisky  or  were 
accustomed  to  sitting  behind  green  covered  tables.  Many 
true-hearted  and  noble  men  were  occupied  in  that  way  who 
would  gladly  pursue  another  business  if  one  was  opened  to 
them.  The  speaker  said  he  did  not  think  the  habit  would 
fasten  itself  upon  him  when  he  first  began  drinking,  but  he 
discovered  he  was  mistaken.  He  was  forty  years  old,  and  he  was 
certain  one-fourth  of  his  life  had  been  passed  in  prison.  He 
referred  in  a  touching  way  to  the  sufferings  of  his  wife  when 
he  was  incarcerated  in  jail ;  that  he  loved  his  wife  dearly,  and 
upon  gaining  his  liberty  always  made  good  resolutions  to 
reform,  but  his  appetite  for  rum  was  too  strong  for  him  to 
resist,  until  he  met  and  received  words  of  encouragement  from 
Mr.  Murphy.  He  warned  young  married  men  to  beware  of 
the  ruinous  effects  of  drink,  which  "  biteth  like  a  serpent  and 
stingeth  like  an  adder."  "  Be  men  and  do  not  touch  the  ac- 
cursed stuff  to  your  lips,"  eloquently  pleaded  the  speaker.  If  he 
had  not  been  saved  by  Mr.  Murphy,  he  knew  he  would  have 
been  on  the  wrong  side  during  the  recent  riots,  and  perhaps 
met  with  death. 

He  was  followed  by  Martin  Peelor,  who  made  an  impres- 
sive address,  which  was  very  well  received  by  the  audience. 
He  said  while  sitting  there  memory  had  been  busy  and  his 
thoughts  had  carried  him  back  a  year  ago  when  he  was  con- 
fined in  the  Albany  penitentiary.  He  was  thankful  that  Mur- 
phy's life-boat  had  drifted  near  him  and  thanked  God  he  was 
uow  on  the  right  side.  It  was  by  first  taking  the  "  occasional" 


FEANCIS    HT7KPHY.  761 

glass  that  he  had  by  successive  stages  reached  his  present  de- 
graded position.  We  may  foster  the  delusion  that  we  can 
quaff  the  social  glass  with  impunity,  but  there  is  danger  in  the 
experiment  and  it  was  not  safe  to  attempt  it,  for  no  social 
position  or  wealth  can  save  you.  It  was  only  by  the  means  of 
this  (showing  a  Murphy  pledge)  that  your  preservation  is 
assured  and  you  find  yourself  a  free  man.  Mr.  Peelor  was 
followed  by  Dr.  Searle,  who  made  a  short  and  characteristic 
speech.  He  spoke  of  the  fact  that  many  husbands  had  eaten 
their  Thanksgiving  dinners  that  day  at  home  with  their  fam- 
ilies who  had  not  done  so  for  years  on  account  of  having  been 
drunk.  He  thought  this  city  was  going  to  be  redeemed  be- 
cause men  were  pledging  by  God's  help  to  abstain  from  intoxi- 
cating liquors.  "  Would  it  be  a  pleasing  episode  in  the  life  of 
a  father  who  took  an  occasional  glass  to  see  his  son  a  drunk- 
ard and  hear  him  say,  '  You  are  the  cause  of  my  degradation, 
father ' ?  " 

The  work  of  gospel  temperance  was  commenced  at  Lansing- 
burgh  by  Francis  Murphy,  on  Wednesday,  November  28,  at 
8:30  o'clock,  P.  M.  The  large  audience  room  of  the  Methodist 
Church  was  packed  with  people,  not  even  standing  room  being 
left.  Mr.  Murphy  appeared  promptly  at  the  appointed  hour, 
accompanied  by  Col.  Caldwell,  the  sweet  singers,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wilson,  and  they  were  greeted  by  the  audience  in  a  most 
emphatic  and  enthusiastic  manner.  Col.  Caldwell  was  first 
introduced,  and  for  half  an  hour  spoke  to  the  people  in  words 
of  burning  eloquence  and  exquisite  pathos.  Then  came  the 
man,  whose  name  is  now  known  throughout  all  America,  who 
stands  before  the  whole  civilized  world  as  a  hero  in  the  in- 
terests of  moral  reform.  Every  one  present  cheered  as  he 
stood  before  them  ;  and  gazed  intently  at  that  handsome  mus- 
cular form  now  so  familiar  and  loved  by  thousands  upon 
thousands. 

For  fully  one  hour  he  spoke  in  his  happiest  vein,  and  carried 
every  one  with  him,  from  tears  and  sobs,  to  shouts  of  laughter, 
as  he  chose.  Certainly  no  man  has  ever  made  so  powerful 


762  THE   LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

and  wonderful  an  impression  on  the  Lansiugburghers  as 
Francis  Murphy.  They  recognized  him  as  specially  sent 
to  arouse  the  people  of  this  country  to  the  awful  results  of 
intemperance,  and  the  glorious  and  blessed  cause  of  total  ab- 
stinence. At  the  close  of  his  stirring  address  he  most  cordially 
invited  all  to  come  and  sign  the  pledge,  and  hundreds  availed 
themselves  of  the  kind  privilege.  Many  leading  citizens  who 
never  had  before  taken  an  active  part  in  temperance,  came 
forward,  and  signed,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  the 
postmaster,  ex-Sheriff  Cornell.  Nearly  eight  hundred  signed 
the  Murphy  pledge.  George  Hall  and  Robert  Lane  were 
among  the  workers,  and  had  entire  charge  of  the  meetings. 
Meetings  were  held  in  this  place  every  afternoon  and  evening, 
and  the  excitement  spread  like  wild-fire  all  over  this  section  of 
the  country. 

The  temperance  wave  reached  Hart's  Falls,  and  swept  over 
it  with  astounding  results.  Baker's  Hall  was  crowded  nightly, 
and  the  enthusiasm  was  very  intense.  In  a  short  space  of 
time  five  hundred  and  sixty  persons  in  this  place  signed  their 
names  to  the  pledge.  A  like  result  was  felt  at  Glenn's  Falls. 
The  large  auditorium,  galleries  and  aisles  of  the  Opera  House 
were  excessively  crowded  every  night ;  and  in  one  week  only 
there  were  over  four  hundred  names  appended  to  the  Murphy 
pledge.  C.  C.  Frost,  the  eminent  lecturer,  awakened  an  in- 
terest in  temperance  matters  that  greatly  exceeded  anything 
heretofore  known  at  Glenn's  Falls.  Five  young  men,  habitual 
sots,  belonging  to  the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  families 
in  the  place,  were  induced  to  take  the  pledge. 

In  West  Troy  the  excitement  was  similar.  The  people 
seemed  to  have  but  one  wish,  and  that  was  to  be  Murphy 
men.  Here,  in  only  one  evening,  there  were  three  hundred 
signers  to  the  pledge.  Francis  Murphy's  advent  was  a  perfect 
ovation,  and  productive  of  untold  good. 

On  Friday  night,  the  last  day  in  that  most  memorable  month 
of  November,  the  audience  in  the  City  Hall  was  as  crowded  as 
on  former  occasions.  Mr.  Murphy  made  a  brief  speech,  in 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  763 

which  he  most  aptly  said,  "  that  fathers  made  a  a  mistake  in 
not  associating  more  with  their  sons,  and  making  companions 
of  them.  If  more  care  was  taken  in  their  training,  they  would 
become  better  and  more  useful  men."  Addressing  himself  to 
the  young  ladies  present  in  the  audience,  the  speaker  said,  "  If 
they  would  endeavor  to  make  it  pleasant  for  their  brothers  as 
they  did  for  other  gii'ls'  brothers,  their  own  would  stay  at 
home  more,  and  not  seek  amusement  elsewhere.  If  young 
men  before  him,  like  the  prodigal  son,  who  had  deserted  their 
homes,  could  only  become  aware  of  the  love  and  longing  felt 
for  them  by  their  parents  and  friends,  and  the  pleasure  in 
store  for  them  upon  their  return,  he  was  confident  there  would 
be  no  hesitancy  on  their  part  to  reform  and  lead  in  the  future 
strictly  temperance  lives." 

He  then  introduced,  in  his  usual  happy  way,  Mr.  Fulsom,  of 
Binghamton,  who  said,  "  It  was  needless  for  him  to  say  it 
was  a  pleasure  to  be  there  and  address  such  an  audience  upon 
the  theme  of  temperance.  God,  through  His  infinite  mercy, 
had  saved  him  by  this  gospel  temperance,  and  he  felt  it  his 
duty  to  do  what  he  could  for  the  cause.  He  said  he  was 
stopped  at  the  brink  of  a  drunkard's  grave  by  Francis  Mur- 
phy ;  that  he  attended  a  temperance  meeting  at  Binghamton, 
and  went  reeling  down  one  of  the  aisles  of  the  hall,  and 
signed  the  pledge,  for  the  purpose  of  casting  a  slur  upon  the 
movement.  The  next  day  he  resolved,  upon  consideration,  to 
adhere  to  the  pledge,  and  God  had  given  him  strength  to  pre- 
serve it.  Thanksgiving  day,"  he  added,  "  a  sober  man,  sur- 
rounded by  his  wife  and  children,  he  was  happy,  and  certainly 
had  something  for  which  to  be  thankful.  Appealing  to  the 
men,  he  implored  them  to  take  the  pledge  ;  though  people 
might  say  they  were  signing  away  their  liberty,  they  were,  on 
the  contrary,  by  so  doing,  assuming  their  liberty."  "  Come," 
he  added,  "  cast  off  the  chains  which  keep  you  in  bondage, 
and  become  free  men." 

Angelo  Packard  made  a  very  effective  speech,  and  was 
much  applauded.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Daniels,  of  Chicago,  made  a 


764  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

short  address.  The  latter  said  he  was  horn  in  the  theological 
seminary  of  which  Francis  Murphy  was  president.  Though 
the  studies  taught  were  somewhat  different  in  this  than  any 
other  theological  institution,  still,  the  doctrines  were  sound 
and  logical,  and  he  thanked  the  professor  (turning  to  Mr. 
Murphy)  for  his  instruction.  The  scattering  and  diffusion  of 
the  doctrines  of  this  gospel  temperance  reform  in  neighboring 
towns  and  villages,  he  compared  with  illuminating  a  hall  with 
electricity.  He  said  that  speakers  generally  addressed  people 
in  rear  part  of  the  hall,  while  the  worst  sinners  riot  infre- 
quently occupied  the  front  seats.  His  remarks  were  received 
with  applause  by  the  audience.  Rev.  Mr.  Sawyer  said  he 
was  very  much  interested  in  the  success  of  the  temperance 
movement  here,  as  he  thought  the  influence  of  the  good  work 
would  be  felt  in  Albany.  In  regard  to  this  reform,  he  said  he 
had  been  very  much  impressed  with  two  things — first,  the 
power  of  kindness  ;  and  secondly,  the  power  of  God  and  the 
ability  of  men  experiencing  it  to  do  right.  He  felt  that  Mr. 
Murphy  was  destined  to  accomplish  the  greatest  temperance 
reform  ever  known  to  the  world.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson, 
of  Albany,  followed  with  a  few  remarks.  He  was  unable  to 
say  anything  in  the  way  of  experience,  because  he  had  never 
tasted  intoxicating  drink.  He  said  when  Bell  and  Everett  ran 
in  the  political  field  several  years  ago,  the  former  was  eulogized 
at  a  meeting  by  the  speaker,  for  his  scholastic  attainments  ; 
but  declared,  upon  one  occasion,  when  he  was  sitting  in  a 
dentist's  chair,  the  operator  made  a  mistake,  and  instead  of 
extracting  a,  tooth,  pulled  out  his  backbone.  He  closed  by 
warning  young  men  who  had  taken  the  pledge  not  to  allow 
their  backbones  to  be  pulled  out,  but  to  remain  true  to  the 
obligations  they  had  assumed,  through  encouragements  and 
discouragements.  S.  W.  Brown,  of  Galesburg,  111.,  followed 
with  a  short,  pointed  speech,  and  closed  by  saying  God  would 
bless  those  who  went  to  prison  cells,  and  taking  criminals  by 
the  hand,  said  there  was  still  hope  for  them.  Martin  Peelor 
was  the  next  speaker.  He  said  he  was  unable  to  give  the 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  765 

audience  any  idea  how  happy  he  had  been  since  signing  the 
pledgr  Many  had  seen  him  stumbling  through  the  streets, 
drunk,  but  it  would  never  happen  again,  for  he  believed  he 
was  free  from  the  curse  of  intemperance. 

Monday,  December  3,  was  the  commencement  of  the  third 
week  of  the  Murphy  movement  in  Troy.  Mr.  Murphy  and  his 
zealous  co-laborers  had  every  reason  to  feel  very  gratified  with 
the  results  they  had  so  far  accomplished.  As  the  Troy  Times 
said  at  that  time  :  "  When  the  temperance  apostle  first  came 
here,  many  persons  doubtingly  shook  their  heads  and  declared 
the  impossibility  of  his  obtaining  or  awakening  an  interest  in 
his  work  among  the  so-called  '  bummer '  class.  But  the 
falsity  of  their  predictions  has  already  been  conclusively 
proved,  and,  in  addition,  the  assertion  made  by  Mr.  Murphy 
when  he  first  arrived  here  that  the  movement,  with  Troy  as 
its  centre,  would  radiate  in  all  directions,  and  be  felt  alike  in 
the  neighboring  towns  and  villages,  has  been  verified.  The 
friends  of  the  cause  are  sanguine  of  still  greater  success  during 
the  coming  week." 

On  Saturday  night  Francis  Murphy,  before  a  very  large  and 
attentive  audience,  opened  his  remarks  by  referring  to  the 
beautiful  in  life  which  abounded  in  love  of  the  purest  quality. 
Reminiscences  were  like  life-preservers  ;  when  the  memory  re- 
called those  of  early  boyhood  they  were  often  instrumental  in 
rescuing  men  from  fallen,  degraded  positions.  The  precept 
always  observed  by  aw mother  was  "  overcome  not  good  with 
evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good,"  and  the  speaker  aptly 
illustrated  this  by  several  incidents  in  real  life.  If  all  do  their 
duty  they  will  succeed  in  their  work,  in  which  an  opportunity 
is  offered  each  and  every  one  to  accomplish  something.  The 
man  selling  liquor  should  be  treated  charitably,  for  he  Avas 
doing  so  against  the  convictions  of  his  own  heart,  and  so  long 
as  the  demand  existed  for  alcoholic  drink  the  sale  would  con- 
tinue. It  was  a  crime  against  humanity  and  God  to  sell  liquor, 
but  those  who  bought  it  were  partners  with  the  dealers.  He 
said  he  did  not  want  men  to  sign  the  pledge  unless  they  be- 


766  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

heveJ  in  it,  and  he  told  the  Catholics  that  he  himself  would 
go  with  them  to  their  priest  and  take  it.  He  thanked  God 
that  the  movement  was  above  sectarianism.  All  he  wanted 
was  a  man  to  cease  drinking  intoxicating  liquor  and  adhere  to 
his.  determination. 

The  five  minutes  speakers  then  had  the  platform  to  them- 
Belves  and  did  some  very  good  talking.  One  of  these  men, 
by  name  Daniel  Ellis,  caused  no  little  merriment  among  the 
audience  by  his  peculiar  expressions  and  illustrative  antics. 
He  said  he  had  heard  bad  news  that  morning — that  he  had 
been  drunk,  and  the  rum-sellers  were  only  going  to  give  him  a 
vacation  of  a  month.  It  was  all  false,  however,  and  he  never 
intended  to  violate  the  pledge  he  had  taken,  but  proposed  to 
remain  true  to  the  cause  he  had  espoused,  and  as  he  returned  to 
his  seat  he  swung  a  large  blue  handkerchief  over  his  head 
amid  the  vociferous  laughter  and  applause  of  the  audience. 

Mr.  Murphy,  with  beaming  face  and  sparkling  eyes,  ad- 
vanced on  the  stage  and  said  he  had  received  a  bit  of  very 
good  news  indeed  ;  and  said  his  heart  felt  exceedingly  glad. 
He  produced  a  piece  of  paper,  and  read  out  in  a  tone  of  voice 
that  rang  through  the  hall  like  a  blast  of  the  hunting  horn  : 

LANSINGBUKGH,  Dec.  1 — 8  P.  M. 
Francis  Murphy,  Glty  Hall,  Troy : 

Blessed  be  God  !  The  throne  of  alcohol  is  tottering  and 
must  fall.  Lansingburgh  hails  Troy  with  1,000  signatures. 

LOVE  &  HALL. 

What  cheers  went  forth  at  that !  The  building  fairly  shook 
with  the  ringing  sounds.  After  the  excitement  had  grown  a 
little  less  warm,  Mr.  Murphy  introduced  the  Rev.  James  H. 
Ross,  who  made  a  most  impressive  speech,  in  which  he  feelingly 
referred  to  Eccles  Robinson,  with  whom  he  had  an  acquaint- 
ance at  Princeton  College  in  his  freshman  year.  That  gentle- 
man was  habitually  intoxicated  while  there,  and  he  was  greatly 
surprised  to  learn  of  the  change  that  had  since  come  over  him. 
He  added  it  was  the  popular  impression  when  a  man  had 
become  low  and  degraded  that  it  was  impossible  to  raise  him 


FEANCIS    MUBPHY.  767 

up.  People  should  do  away  with  this  idea,  for  the  evidence 
presented  upon  that  platform  during  the  past  two  weiks  indi- 
cates that  any  man  can  be  saved  and  become  a  respectable  and 
honored  member  of  society  ;  that  Mr.  Murphy  himself  was  an 
example  in  question.  A  change  of  personal  appearance  always 
followed  the  reform  of  an  inebriate,  and,  in  his  mind,  this  was 
a  test  of  the  sincerity  of  the  man  in  reform.  He  had  learned 
that  a  saloon-keeper  reported  his  receipts  for  a  given  day  to 
have  been  only  eighty  cents  ["  Thank  the  Lord,"  said  Mr. 
Murphy],  and  expressed  a  wish  that  Mr.  Murphy  would  leave 
town  as  soon  as  possible  ["  God  bless  him,"  interrupted  Mr. 
Murphy].  He  had  been  informed  by  the  proprietor  of  a  drug 
store  that  the  sale  of  temperance  beverages  had  greatly  in- 
creased since  the  organization  of  the  Murphy  movement  in 
this  city.  The  speaker  closed  by  saying  he  would  do  all  in  his 
power  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  temperance  apostle  and 
his  associates  in  this  city. 

The  Sunday  night  meeting  was  not  so  large  as  that  of  Satur- 
day, nor  was  it  expected  to  be,  as  an  admission  fee  of  twenty- 
five  cents  was  charged.  This  was  done  every  sabbath  evening 
simply  for  the  purpose  of  defraying  incidental  expenses  that 
occurred  in  using  the  City  Hall,  which  were  not  very  light. 

Col.  Caldwell  was  the  first  speaker.  He  said  it  had  always 
been  a  great  pleasure  for  him  to  address  audiences  upon  polit- 
ical questions  during  exciting  campaigns,  but  in  all  his  ex- 
perience he  never  heard  of  his  making  a  single  convert  by  his 
efforts,  nor  had  he  ever  learned  of  any  other  political  speaker 
accomplishing  such  a  result.  When  he  commenced  speaking 
upon  gospel  temperance,  it  was  entirely  different.  At  the 
very  first  meeting  he  addressed,  over  three  hundred  people 
signed  the  pledge,  including  the  editor  of  a  newspaper  that 
had  always  been  inimical  to  the  movement.  It  was  the  source 
of  great  satisfaction  to  feel  that  he  could  accomplish  some- 
thing and  was  able  to  witness  the  results  of  his  labors.  It  was 
a  pleasure  to  receive  the  thanks  of  individuals  for  being  in- 
strumental in  saving  their  friends  and  relatives  from  the 


V68  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

intoxicating  cup.  In  Elmira,  his  native  city,  9,000  were  in- 
duced to  sign  the  pledge,  and  in  Tioga  county,  Pennsylvania 
— having  a  population  of  85,000 — 21,000  had  taken  the  total 
abstinence  obligation.  Wonderful  work  had  been  accom- 
plished among  the  miners  in  that  locality,  and  revivals  were 
still  going  on.  In  this  State  one  hundred  men  were  preaching 
temperance  in  the  different  sections  in  an  earnest  and  sincere 
manner.  In  the  blue  grass  region  of  Kentucky  ["  Pull  'em 
out !"  shouted  Mr.  Murphy]  the  good  work  was  being  pushed 
rapidly  forward,  and  great  results  would  be  effected.  "  The 
banner  of  temperance,"  said  the  speaker,  "  shall  float  high 
over  the  heads  of  all,  and  the  movement  will  spread  like  fire 
through  the  northern  districts,  up  the  Mohawk  valley  and 
along  the  Hudson  river  to  New  York."  They  had  every  rea- 
son, to  feel  proud  of  the  results  that  had  been  accomplished 
during  the  past  two  weeks.  In  that  time  17,000  pledges  had 
been  distributed  from  their  headquarters  to  Lansingburgh, 
Hart's  Falls,  Schuylerville  and  West  Troy,  but  a  large  propor- 
tion of  that  number  had  been  scattered  over  Troy.  Urgent 
invitations  had  been  received  by  Mr.  Murphy  to  visit  other 
cities  before  he  came  here,  but  he  invariably  replied  that  he 
proposed  to  inaugurate  the  work  in  this  city  first.  If  one  man 
had  been  saved  from  a  di'unkard's  grave  they  considered  them- 
selves amply  repaid  for  all  efforts  and  expense.  They  did  not 
desire,  however,  to  stir  up  animosities,  nor  would  they  ask 
anybody  to  abandon  any  particular  religious  sect  or  political 
party.  They  came  here  with  only  one  work  before  them,  that 
of  temperance  gospel.  The  interest  developed  in  the  move- 
ment here  has  been  remarkable,  and  they  desired  to  thank  the 
Christian  men  and  women  for  their  earnest  support.  The 
press  was  also  thanked  for  the  cordial  aid  and  encouragement 
it  had  given  the  temperance  movement.  People  were  natur- 
ally interested  in  the  proceedings  of  the  great  and  good  work 
now  goiug  on  in  this  vicinity.  Mr.  Murphy  had  announced 
his  determination  to  "  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all 
winter,"  and  the  siege  of  Troy  would  not  be  given  up  until 


FKANCIS    MURPHY.  769 

unexpected  reformatory  results  took  place.  God  would  help 
the  cause  of  justice  and  truth  and  the  gospel  temperance  light 
would  beam  brighter  and  brighter  every  day. 

The  Wilsons  then  sang  a  song,  after  which  Francis  Murphy 
made  one  of  his  excellent  speeches.  He  said,  very  eloquently, 
he  was  grateful  to  Him  who  does  all  things  well,  and  grateful 
for  the  fair  hearing  he  had  been  given  during  his  stay  in  this 
city  by  all.  classes  of  citizens.  He  had  the  unshaken  faith  in 
God  and  man  that  the  liquor-sellers  would  in  a  measure  co- 
operate with  him  in  this  temperance  movement.  Argument, 
he  thought,  could  accomplish  everything.  Charles  Sumner,  in 
his  arraignment  of  slavery,  employed  only  that  means.  Phys- 
ical violence,  instead  of  peaceable  argument,  in  matters  of 
controversy,  shows  ignorance  and  barbarism.  Intelligence 
and  reasoning  succeeded  in  freeing  the  slaves  of  this  country. 
The  next  legislature  may  be  petitioned  to  grant  $500,000  for 
the  purpose  of  building  a  new  prison,  when  if  the  people 
would  generally  take  the  temperance  pledge  there  would  be 
no  necessity  of  such  a  measure.  Four-fifths  of  all  the  crim- 
inals were  made  so  through  the  means  of  liquor. 

The  days  of  impossibilities  are  past.  People  laughed  and 
scoffed  at  Cyrus  Field  and  the  Atlantic  cable.  But  its  "  click, 
click,"  was  in  his  heart,  and  he  could  not  dispossess  himself  of 
it,  even  if  he  desired  to  do  so,  for  he  knew  he  was  destined  to 
remove  skepticism  and  doubt.  "  But,"  added  Mr.  Murphy,  "  a 
greater  victory  is  in  store  for  us,  and  do  not  close  the  windows 
of  your  soul  to  the  movement."  In  closing  his  remarks  the 
speaker  depicted  the  scene  at  the  death-bed  of  his  wife  in  such 
a  touching  manner  there  were  few  people  in  the  audience  who 
were  not  affected  to  tears. 

On  Monday  night,  December  3,  Col.  Caldwell  addressed 
the  largest  audience  of  the  entire  season  i,i  a  powerful  manner, 
saying  :  There  were  some  things  in  temperance  that  could  not 
be  computed — t"ie  gains  and  losses  arising  thereby.  Con 
nected  with  the  soul,  heart  and  human  happiness  were  many 
matters  which  would  not  permit  of  ordinary  treatment.  But 
33 


770  THE   LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

mathematics  would  in  a  certain  degree  elucidate  some  of  the 
problems.  He  had  been  informed  that  temperance  was  a 
money-making  business,  and  the  lecturers  became  wealthy 
through  their  efforts.  This  was  not  so,  but  in  his  experience 
he  found  it  less  expensive  to  contribute  for  the  movement  than 
it  had  been  to  pay  his  former  liquor  bills.  The  month  pre- 
vious to  his  taking  the  pledge  he  had  expended  $52  for  liquor, 
and  the  month  after  joining  the  temperance  movement  he  had 
only  expended  $25  toward  that  cause — his  actual  gain  being 
therefore  $27. 

The  following  figures,  taken  from  the  reports  of  E.  S.  Young, 
chief  of  the  United  States  statistical  bureau,  and  from  Com- 
missioner Wells'  report  to  Congress  in  1869,  are  certainly  un- 
deniable and  conclusive.  The  amount  of  sales  by  the  retail 
liquor  dealers  in  the  United  States  was  $1,483,491,865.  This 
was  six  tenths  of  the  entire  amount  of  the  national  debt  at  the 
time,  i.  e.,  1869.  In  the  State  of  New  York,  with  a  population 
of  4,000,000,  the  total  amount  of  sales  was  $246,617,520,  or 
the  sum  of  $62.50  was  paid  by  each  man,  woman  and  child  pro 
rata.  The  yearly  deaths  from  intemperance  in  this  country 
amount  to  75,000  ;  of  these  71,000  are  males  and  4,000 
females.  It  is  estimated  there  are  at  present  in  the  United 
States  300,000  hard  drinkers  and  1,500,000  moderate  drinkers, 
while  the  occasional  "  smilers "  aggregate  to  2,000,000.  Cal- 
culation shows  that  in  one  ton  of  silver  there  is  $31,200.  In 
$1,483,491,865  (the  amount  of  retail  liquor  sales  in  the  United 
States)  there  would  therefore  be  47,740  tons  of  silver.  Allow- 
ing 10  tons  of  silver  to  each  car,  4,774  freight  cars  would  con- 
sequently be  loaded.  These  in  a  continuous  line  would  extend 
143,220  feet,  or  25  1-5  miles.  If  one-half  of  the  money  ex- 
pended annually  for  liquor  could  be  applied  to  charitable  pur- 
poses there  would  be  no  want  at  all  felt  among  the  poor  in  this 
country.  The  army  of  75,000  hard  drinkers  must  be  recruited 
annually.  The  recruiting  officers  were  in  all  sections  of  the 
country,  and  in  force  in  this  city  offering  flattering  induce- 
ments to  those  who  were  open  to  temptation.  People  stood 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  771 

idly  by  and  did  not  attempt  to  remove  the  evil  which  was 
raging  to  such  an  extent  under  the  church  spires.  "  In  the 
name  of  all  that  is  holy  and  pure,"  added  the  speaker  in  clos- 
ing, "I beseech  you  to  join  the  army  under  the  banner  of  blue. 
You  need  not  be  ashamed  to  do  this,  for  it  will  render  you 
physically  strong,  replenish  your  purse  and  make  you  acceptable 
in  the  sight  of  the  Lord.  May  God  induce  you  to  put  yourself 
on  the  right  side." 

After  the  choir  had  rendered,  "  Just  as  I  Am,"  Col.  Caldwell 
advanced  to  the  front  of  the  platform  and  said  he  would  in- 
troduce one  who  occasionally  talked  on  temperance,  Francis 
Murphy.  That  gentleman  said  he  had  been  very  much  im- 
pressed with  the  power  of  rum,  and  none  but  those  who  had 
suffered  from  the  accui-sed  appetite  could  know  its  strength. 
The  speaker  graphically  pictured  the  alluring  attractions  of 
what  he  termed  "jnfant  inebriety,"  and  the  unconscious,  inex- 
orable power  of  the  craving  for  strong  drink  after  the  habit 
had  become  firmly  fastened  upon  one,  which  neither  money, 
children  nor  happy  homes  could  satisfy.  "  Let  us  not  falter," 
said  Mr.  Murphy,  "but  decide  to-night  to  neither  touch  nor 
handle  the  accursed  beverage  in  the  future.  Don  the  blue  and 
let  us  do  what  we  can  to  dry  up  this  fountain  of  sorrow  that 
is  degrading  manhood  and  breaking  so  many  hearts.  I  thank 
God  that  he  gave  me  a  heart  and  a  strong  arm  to  be  one  of  the 
laborers  to  build  up  this  structure  of  temperance.  Let  all,  by 
adding  a  stone  here  and  there,  do  what  they  can  towards  its 
completion." 

Since  the  inauguration  of  the  movement  in  Troy  upon  no 
occasion  was  there  so  much  enthusiasm  displayed  as  at  the 
meeting  of  Tuesday,  December  4th.  There  were  also  more 
signatures  to  the  pledge  than  at  any  other  previous  time.  Mr. 
Murphy  advanced  to  the  front  of  the  platform  and  addressed 
a  few  remarks  to  the  audience.  He  said  intemperance  visited 
the  palace  of  the  rich  and  the  humble  cottage  of  the  poor 
alike,  but  introduced  misery,  hunger,  and  pinching  want  into 
the  latter.  In  a  few  appropriate  words  the  temperance  re- 


772  THE    LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

former  cordially  thanked  the  press  of  this  city  for  the  support 
it  had  given  him  in  this  movement,  and  for  the  favorable 
criticism  which  all  of  his  efforts  had  received,  adding  that  it 
was  necessary  to  have  the  public  sentiment  with  them  in  order 
to  accomplish  the  desired  reform.  The  living  testimony  of 
that  which  a  man  knew  himself  by  experience  was  the  most 
effective,  and  those  in  the  audience  who  had  suffered  from  the 
curse  of  intemperance  he  asked  to  speak  truly  and  from  the 
bottom  of  their  hearts  for  the  benefit  of  the  cause.  Mr. 
Murphy  then  introduced  to  the  audience  Mr.  Babcock,  who 
made  a  short,  telling  address.  He  said  it  had  taken  him  two 
weeks  to  make  up  his  mind  to  sign  the  pledge.  Three-fourths 
of  the  audience  were  doubtless  acquainted  with  him,  and  well 
aware  what  his  habits  had  been  for  the  last  ten  years,  and  it 
was  therefore  unnecessary  for  him  to  detail  the  particulars  of 
his  life.  He  first  began  drinking  by  taking  one  or  two  glasses 
of  ale  a  day,  but  in  two  years  it  required  a  dozen  to  produce  a 
similar  effect.  He  then  discovered  that  ale  was  injurious  to 
his  health,  and  a  friend  advised  him  to  change  his  beverage  to 
whisky.  The  advice  was  taken,  and  he  "  switched  off "  in 
earnest.  The  people  present  knew  what  the  accursed  stimulant 
accomplished  in  his  case,  and  he  did  not  propose  to  make  a 
confession  there  of  its  effects  upon  him.  He  recognized  in 
the  audience  at  least  fifty  of  the  "  boys  " — friends  of  his  who 
had  often  drank  with  him  ["  Come  up,  boys,  and  sign  the 
pledge,"  said  Mr.  Murphy],  and  he  hoped  they  would  do  as  he 
had  done  the  night  before  by  subscribing  their  names  to  the 
total  abstinence  pledge.  During  the  late  war  thousands  had 
gathered  around  the  glorious  emblem  of  our  country  and 
fought  and  bled  for  it.  The  same  would  be  true  in  the  cause 
of  temperance  under  the  noble  color  bearer  (pointing  to  Mr. 
Murphy).  The  speaker  closed  by  asking  the  audience  to  sup- 
port the  great  reformer  in  his  efforts. 

While  the  choir  was  rendering  that  stirring  song  "  Hold  the 
Fort,"  and  the  people  were  hurrying  up  to  the  pledge-tables, 
Mr.  Murphy  called  for  recent  converts  to  speak  to  the  audi- 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  773 

ence.  James  Morehead  announced  that  he  had  taken  the 
pledge  and  proposed  to  keep  it.  Mr.  Bane  said  that  he  had 
accepted  Francis  Murphy's  advice,  and  was  determined  to 
join  the  total  abstinence  ranks  ;  that  he  was  a  working- 
man  and  instead  of  spending  his  money  for  drink  in  the.' 
future  he  would  carry  it  to  his  wife  and  children.  Mr. 
Dixon  declared  the  speeches  he  had  heard  delivered  by  Mr. 
Murphy  and  Col.  Caldwell  had  (to  use  his  own  expression) 
"  knocked  the  drink  all  out  of  him."  He  had  been  an  occa- 
sional drinker  or  "  smiler,"  but  he  was  glad  to  say  he  had 
taken  his  last  drink  yesterday.  He  had  "  signed  the  pledge 
and  was  done  drinking." 

Judge  W.  J.  Groo,  of  Orange  county,  was  introduced  by 
Francis  Murphy,  and  made  a  fine  speech,  in  which  he  said  he 
was  deeply  interested  in  the  cause  of  temperance,  and  that  it 
was  near  and  dear  to  his  heart.  The  evil  growing  out  of  the 
sale  of  intoxicating  drink  could  not  be  computed,  and  it  was 
one  which  penetrated  into  every  hamlet  and  village  through- 
out the  country.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  the 
people,  considering  it  a  war  against  their  common  country, 
united  ;  the  flag  was  honored  and  the  land  saved.  The  same 
might  be  said  in  a  certain  sense  of  the  temperance  cause,  which 
included  people  of  every  religious  sect  and  nationality.  There 
was  more  danger  threatening  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of 
the  country  to-day  from  intemperance  than  has  ever  menaced 
it  from  war.  This  was  clearly  proved  by  the  statistics  so 
cleverly  presented  by  Col.  Caldwell  Monday  night.  It  was 
simply  impossible  for  language  to  express  the  new  danger  of 
this  evil,  and  the  speaker  declared  it  as  his  opinion  that  the 
damage  resulting  annually,  if  reduced  to  dollars  and  cents, 
would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  liquidate  the  national  debt — 
this,  of  course,  including  the  maintenance  of  criminals  and  the 
loss  and  injury  of  property  through  the  indirect  effects  of 
liquor.  By  computation  it  had  been  discovered  that  in  this 
country  165  drunkards  die  daily.  If  all  these  facts  were 
soberly  considered  the  people  would  rise  up  and  declare  this 


774  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

evil  must  cease  to  exist.  Upon  the  day  of  judgment  each  one 
must  answer  for  the  personal  responsibility  resting  upon  hia 
shoulders. 

A  forcible  illustration  of  this  point  was  drawn  by  the  sup- 
position that  a  man  walking  along  a  railroad  track,  near  a 
bridge,  and  perceiving  a  small  stone  upon  the  rails  does  not 
remove  it,  considering  it  unimportant ;  but  a  train  coming- 
along  is  thrown  off  the  track  thereby  and  into  the  river. 
Then,  after  the  accident  had  occurred,  the  man  would 
have  given  everything  if  the  past  could  have  been  recalled 
and  the  obstruction  taken  off  the  track  before  the  train  ar- 
rived. Fathers  and  mothers  should  remove  temptations  from 
their  sons  and  save  them  before  it  was  too  late.  Several 
years  ago,  at  Philadelphia,  a  large  number  of  barrels  of  kero- 
sene were  on  fire  in  front  of  a  building.  A  police  officer  rushed 
through  the  flames  to  rescue  a  woman,  and,  as  he  reached  an 
apparent  place  of  safety  and  the  assembled  crowd  were  ap- 
plauding the  brave  action,  the  wind  changed,  and  both,  envel- 
oped by  the  fire,  perished.  A  costly  monument  was  erected 
by  the  citizens  and  the  heroic  officer's  name  inscribed  upon  it, 
not  because  he  saved,  but  because  he  tried  to  do  so.  In  an 
eloquent  manner  the  speaker  closed  by  appealing  to  the  audi- 
ence to  do  what  they  could  towards  saving  the  fallen  and 
rescuing  the  perishing.  Though  their  names  might  not  be  in- 
scribed upon  marble  monuments  they  would  be  written  in  the 
"  Lamb's  book  of  life  and  remain  forever  in  eternity." 

The  "  weather  clerk"  ushered  in  Wednesday  night,  Decem- 
ber 6,  with  frowns  ;  but  despite  the  inclement  condition  a 
very  large  audience  filled  the  City  Hall  to  listen  to  the  elo- 
quent words  of  Francis  Murphy. 

It  will  not  be  amiss  here  to  remark  that  the  most  pleasing, 
and  one  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  temperance 
movement  in  Troy  was  the  vocalization  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wil- 
son. Possessors  of  really  excellent  voices,  well  cultivated,  and 
imbued  with  a  deep  sense  of  religion,  they  were  the  right  per- 
sons in  the  right  place.  They  knew  exactly  in  what  manner 


FEANCIS    MUEPHY.  775 

to  render  the  simple,  yet  dear  and  beautiful  gospel  songs  ;  and 
were  instrumental  in  doing  much  good.  These  same  old  tunes 
worked  magically  on  many  a  hardened  heart,  and  aroused 
many  a  conscience  that  had  slumbered  for  years.  Francis 
Murphy  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  music.  On  one  occasion  he 
said  with  fine  effect,  and  in  a  thrilling  voice,  that  "  song  was 
to  moral  reform  what  a  band  of  music  was  to  us  in  our 
national  difficulty." 

J.  E.  Hoag,  of  Troy,  was  introduced  on  Wednesday  evening, 
and  made  a  manly  and  stirring  speech.  He  prefaced  his  re- 
marks by  quoting  the  motto  of  gospel  temperance,  "  With 
Malice  toward  none  and  Charity  for  all."  There  was  a  time 
within  his  own  recollection  when  the  spirit  of  the  above  motto 
was  never  employed  by  temperance  reformers,  but  instead  open 
war  was  waged  against  both  saloon-keepers  and  drinkers,  and 
only  vituperation  and  gross  abuse  used.  Love  and  charity 
were  never  extended  the  fallen  and  degraded.  But  in  the 
march  of  human  progress  we  are  to  be  thankful  that  day  has 
passed.  The  principle  advocated  by  Francis  Murphy  was  the 
only  true  one,  in  his  estimation,  yet  we  could  not  be  whipped 
or  forced  to  observe  it  and  do  what  was  right.  Many  of  those 
who  were  engaged  in  the  liquor  traffic  possessed  noble  quali- 
ties, and  were  always  ready  to  extend  a  helping  hand  to  the 
poverty-stricken  and  unfortunate.  Rum-sellers  seldom,  became 
affected  by  intoxicating  drink,  and  for  that  reason  would  com- 
pare favorably  with  the  men  who  drank  at  their  bars,  though 
the  latter  might  hold  higher  positions  in  society.  Thus  it  was 
evident  that  they  were  men  like  ourselves,  and  could  only  be 
affected  by  those  means  which  would  produce  an  effect  upon 
us.  Love  and  charity  can  alone  win  them  from  their  vocation. 
Nevertheless,  wh^jle  these  men  were  generous  and  possessed 
many  noble  characteristics,  a  warfare  must  be  waged  against 
them.  You  paid  them  your  money  and  in  return  received 
poverty  ;  you  paid  them  your  silver  and  in  return  received 
shame  ;  you  paid  them  your  gold  and  in  return  received  broken 
hearts  and  a  disabled  body  ;  you  paid  them  all,  and  received  in 


776  THE  LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

return  a  condemned  soul.  The  speaker  declared  the  liquor  he 
had  used  in  his  own  experience  had  been  doubled  with  each 
successive  year.  This  he  knew  to  be  a  fact.  Though  he  be- 
lieved he  had  as  much  courage  as  the  generality  of  men,  he 
was  obliged  to  confess  he  was  afraid  of  rum.  He  did  not 
have  stability  of  character  enough  to  use  intoxicating  bever- 
ages with  moderation,  and  for  that  reason  he  resolved  to  break 
off  the  habit  entirely.  This^he  believed  the  only  safe  policy 
to  pursue  and  the  only  way  in  which  to  lead  a  successful  life. 

"  Somewhere  on  this  earthly  planet, 

In  the  dust  of  flowers  to  be  ; 
In  the  dewdrops,  in  the  sunshine, 
Sleeps  a  solemn  day  for  me." 

"A  solemn  day,"  said  the  speaker,  "sleeps  not  only  for  me 
but  for  you  all,  and  when  that  day  comes  I  hope  to  leave  this 
world  without  a  drop  of  liquor  in  my  system,  and  be  clothed 
in  my  right  sober  mind.  Sobriety  will  certainly  injure  no 
man,  and  you  are  all  well  aware  of  the  terrible  effects  of 
rum." 

The  Rev.  H.  C.  Farrar  then  followed  in  an  effective  address, 
in  which  he  said  he  had  never  touched  intoxicating  liquor — 
hardly  knew  its  different  names — nor  had  it  ever  affected  any 
member  of  his  family  in  any  way,  yet  he  hated  it  with  all  his 
heart.  God  had  given  him  a  nervous  disposition,  and  he  knew 
his  feelings  too  well  to  dare  to  taste  liquor,  for  he  was  confi- 
dent if  he  did  so,  in  five  years  people  would  point  him  out  as 
he  passed  along  in  the  streets,  and  say,  "  There  goes  the  poor, 
drunken  preacher."  Yes,  indeed,  he  confessed  it  was  an 
enemy  he  did  not  have  the  courage  to  meet,  and  that  by 
taking  the  pledge  he  felt  stronger  in  his  goo$  resolutions.  He 
related  a  story  of  a  mother  who  stood  on  a  river  bank,  and 
saw  her  son  drown  in  the  stream,  and  was  never  able  after- 
wards to  look  at  the  spot.  In  the  same  way  mothers  in  this 
city  shuddered,  and  could  not  look  at  "  gehennas "  (rum 
shops)  in  passing,  where  they  knew  their  boys  had  been  lost. 


FEANCIS    MTJRPHY.  77Y 

The  speaker  said,  several  years  ago,  while  attending  the  uni- 
versity in  this  city,  he  made  acquaintance  of  the  members  of  a. 
social  club.  He  was  absent  ten  years,  and  on  returning  to 
Troy,  made  inquiries  concerning  the  young  men,  and  learned 
that  they  were  all  either  dead,  or  leading  low,  degraded  lives. 
Daniel  Ellis  spoke,  and  elicited  great  applause,  and  not  a 
little  laughter.  He  said  he  had  kept  his  pledge,  and  was 
never  going  to  get  drunk  any  more.  ["  Louder,"  shouted 
somebody  in  the  audience.]  "I  tell  you  I  have  kept  my 
pledge  /"  shrieked  Daniel,  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  which  elic- 
ited laughter  from  all  present.  He  said  he  had  something  in 
his  soul  now  to  help  him  in  keeping  his  pledge,  which  he  never 
before  possessed,  and  that  was  the  help  of  God.  He  thanked 
God  he  no  longer  craved  for  whisky.  He  declared  the  follow- 
ing lines  should  be  placed,  as  an  epitaph,  on  the  tombstones  of 
many  of  the  drunkards  in  this  city  : 

"  He  became  a  perfect  bum, 
By  his  drinking  'two  for  one.'" 

Thursday  evening,  December  6,  Mr.  Murphy  made  the  in- 
teresting statement  that  during  his  stay  here  20,000  persons 
had  signed  their  names  to  his  pledge,  that  is  in  Troy  and  its 
vicinity.  He  said  there  were  hundreds  still  to  follow,  and 
asked  in  a  thrilling  way,  "  Are  you  afraid  to  join  this  army  ? 
Are  you  afraid  to  put  on  the  blue  when  so  many  have  done  so 
before  ?  The  color  is  now  the  emblem  of  all  that  is  good  and 
pure  and  noble.  Its  wearers  are  bound  together  by  as  strong 
a  tie  as  brotherly  love  is  capable  of  weaving.  Don't  be 
ashamed  to  don  it.  Be  true  to  yourself,  be  true  to  your 
country,  be  true  to  your  God,  and  let  that  alone  which  brings 
only  evils  from  the  use  of  it.  I  know  young  men  say,  'Ah, 
wait  till  after  New  Year's.  Then  I'll  swear  off.'  But  don't 
let  them  forget  that  '  procrastination  is  the  thief  of  time.' " 

Mr.  Murphy  then  led  Col.  Luther  Caldwell  to  the  front  of 
the  stage,  and  after  a  very  hearty  greeting  from  the  large 
audience,  that  gentleman  announced  his  intention  of  leaving 
33* 


778  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

Troy  for  Greenwich,  Washington  county,  saying  that  so  many 
•had  been  redeemed  who  could  speak  that  he  was  not 
needed  here.  Mr.  Murphy,  however,  will  remain  in  the  city 
and  labor  for  the  advancement  of  the  cause,  although  he  is 
loudly  called  to  other  fields.  Washington,  the  capital  of  our 
nation,  sends  np  a  cry  for  him  to  come.  But  now,  just  as  he 
has  succeeded  in  awakening  a  lively  interest  among  the  people, 
he  felt  that  it  would  be  wicked  to  bring  his  work  to  a  close. 
Soon  he  must  go,  howevei",  and  that  fact  was  urged  upon  the 
audience  as  one  reason  why  they  should  join  heartily  in  the 
reformation  and  send  up  the  temperance  cry  loudly,  that  it 
might  penetrate  into  the  lowest  depths,  and  bring  up  fallen 
humanity  found  struggling  there.  To  the  moderate  drinkers 
and  "occasional  smilcrs"  Col.  Caldwell  then  spoke.  He  said  it 
was  no  use  to  speak  to  drunkards,  for  nobody  would  own  that 
title,  so  he  intended  to  ask  all  those  who  were  not  drunkards 
to  come  and  sign  the  pledge.  The  drunkards  could  keep  their 
seats.  Concluding,  Mr.  Caldwell  said  : 

"I  have  been  a  drinking  man,  and  have  engaged  in  the  traffic 
of  liquor,  and  when  I  talk  about  temperance  I  know  my  sub- 
ject. Dr.  Crosby  is  wrong  when  he  says  *  let  the  fashionable 
saloons  alone,  and  close  up  the  low  resorts.'  It  is  not  in  the 
common  groggeries  that  drunkards  are  made.  It  is  there 
where  a  man  winds  up  his  career, 'who  has  commenced  drink- 
ing in  the  gilded  saloons  and  fashionable  club-rooms.  Ii  is 
there  where  you  find  the  red-nosed  and  blear-eyed  specimens 
of  humanity.  They  totter  unsteadily  up  to  the  bar  and  call 
for  whisky,  and  when  it  is  produced  pay  for  it  with  their  last 
five  cents,  then  pouring  the  vile  stuff  into  a  glass  which  they 
cover  with  their  hands,  as  if  ashamed  of  the  draught  even  in 
their  degradation,  swallow  it  at  a  gulp.  And  what  is  the  stuff 
which  that  last  five  cents  buys?  Jersey  lightning!  It  is 
distilled  damnation  of  the  worst  kind !  Let  Brother  Crosby 
first  close  up  the  club-rooms  and  fashionable  saloons  of  New 
York,  and  then  there  will  be  no  customers  for  the  lower 
places." 


FRANCIS    MTJKPHY.  779 

Mr.  Murphy  related  the  story  of  a  western  man  who  had 
been  a  drunkard  many  years.  One  night  he  visited  a  meeting 
held  by  Mr.  Murphy,  and  signed  the  pledge.  Since  that  time 
he  has  never  tasted  liquor,  has  paid  for  his  house  and  owns 
$1,000  in  the  bank.  "And  this,  my  friends,  is  temperance! 
Come  and  sign  the  pledge  !" 

Eccles  Robinson's  success  at  Hart's  Falls  was  great.  He 
carried  the  whole  place  with  him  from  the  outset ;  and  in  a 
short  while  obtained  a  long  list  of  signers.  The  feeling  ex- 
pressed by  many  of  the  reformed  men  for  their  release  from 
the  appetite  of  strong  drink,  was  truly  touching.  Meetings 
were  held  every  night,  and  were  very  largely  attended  by  all 
classes,  the  rich  and  the  poor  alike  crowding  for  a  seat  at  the 
temperance  advocate's  feet.  To  say  Eccles  Robinson  labored 
well  would  be  faint  praise ;  for  he  went  about  his  Master's 
work  with  an  energetic,  inspired  will  that  set  all  wondering, 
and  succeeded  in  conquering  all  the  difficulties  before  him. 

Messrs.  Hall  and  Love  were  identified  with  the  movement 
at  Lansingburgh.  Both  being  earnest,  sympathetic  "  Murphy 
boys,"  they  were  able  to  work  with  considerable  success.  It 
was  at  this  point  that  Thomas  E.  Murphy,  the  clever  son  of 
the  great  temperance  apostle,  showed  what  was  in  him.  He 
delivered  several  addresses  at  the  different  gatherings,  and 
made  a  marked  impression  on  the  people  by  his  fervor,  sin- 
cerity, and  eloquence.  He  proved  himself  to  be  a  worthy  son 
of  a  most  worthy  father. 

Throughout  some  of  the  adjacent  counties  the  blue-ribbon 
agitation  was  conducted  to  an  extent  that  greatly  exceeded 
any  past  popular  demonstrations  in  the  behalf  of  the  temp'er- 
ance  cause.  The  most  noteworthy  of  these  was  the  one  at 
Glenn's  Falls. 

C.  C.  and  David  G.  Frost,  brothers,  inaugurated  the  move- 
ment. These  gentlemen,  both  comparatively  young  men,  were 
formerly  very  hard  drinkers.  The  former  had  been  a  lawyer, 
and  the  latter,  until  his  conversion,  had  been  a  saloon-keeper 
in  Boston. 


780  THE   LIFE   A1STD   WORK   OF 

They  advocate  the  formation  of  what  is  commonly  known 
in  the  eastern  States  as  reform  clubs,  excepting  theirs  is  termed 
a,  "  cast-iron  pledge,"  which  prohibits  buying,  manufacturing, 
or  using  intoxicating  liquors,  including  wine  or  cider.  These 
men  held  similar  meetings  in  the  western  part  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  at  Clyde,  Rome,  Syracuse,  Rochester,  Ilion  and 
Hudson.  In  the  former  place  they  procured  5,000  signatures 
to  the  pledge,  and  at  the  latter  3,000.  One  week  only  at 
Glenn's  Falls  secured  them  fully  2,500  signers. 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  781 


CHAPTER  VIIL 

FURTHER  SPEECHES. FACTS  AND  MISCELLANEOUS  ITEMS  CON- 
NECTED WITH  THE  TROY  MOVEMENT. — MURPHY*S  CO-LABOR- 
ERS.— ESTIMATE  OF  THE  MAN  AND  HIS  WORKS. 

FROM  Troy  there  radiated  powerful  streams  of  influence, 
like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel,  reaching  the  outlying  range  of 
towns.  Here  the  gallant  and  enthusiastic  subordinates  of 
Murphy  labored,  and  occasionally  the  temperance  apostle  him- 
self visited  each  place,  and  left  behind  him  burning  words 
like  coals  of  fire,  fresh  from  the  altar.  In  measuring  the 
depth  and  force  of  the  Murphy  movements,  we  must  not  forget 
that  the  vital  meaning  of  his  method  is  to  set  everyone  whom 
he  can  influence,  and  who  possesses  the  heart  and  the  brain 
of  the  public  speaker,  whether  educated  or  not,  to  working  in 
co-operation.  In  accordance  with  this,  each  large  city  has 
been  made,  as  it  were,  a  giant  heart,  pumping  blood  into  all  the 
adjacent  places.  Troy,  as  a  center  of  reform  temperance  in- 
fluence, must  be  credited,  directly  and  indirectly,  with  not  less 
than  50,000  pledge-takers,  a  glorious  head-roll  which  makes  it 
a  jewel  of  honor  in  the  crown  of  Murphy's  honor,  not  less 
glowing  than  Pittsburgh  and  Philadelphia.  It  will  be  of 
interest  to  the  reader  to  read  some  of  the  more  striking 
speeches  made  by  Murphy  and  his  co-laborers  while  at  Troy, 
such  as  we  have  not  hitherto  given.  The  extracts  from  ad- 
dresses by  the  devoted  and  eloquent  Caldwell  will  be  of  special 
value,  for  he  brought  to  his  work  not  a  little  culture  and  ex- 
perience in  oratory,  as  well  as  a  magnificent  enthusiasm  for 


782  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 

the  work.      At  one  of  the  Saturday  afternoon  meetings,  he 
said  : 

"  Since  I  was  a  young  man  I  have  been  placed  in  positions 
where  it  was  devolved  upon  me  to  address  political  meetings, 
but  in  all  my  experience  I  never  knew  of  one  man  whose  po- 
litical proclivities  I  had  been  the  instrument  of  changing,  but 
upon  the  first  occasion  of  my  addressing  a  temperance  meet- 
ing, three  hundred  changed  their  course,  and  among  them 
some  have  taken  the  work  into  their  own  hands  and  are  now 
laboring  to  advance  the  cause  of  temperance.  It  is  a  pleasure 
to  know  that  some  of  those  men  have  taken  their  stand  upon 
the  platform  of  temperance.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  have  a  wife 
come  and  say,  '  My  husband  has  signed  a  pledge,'  or  to  have 
a  mother  say,  '  My  son,  who  has  always  been  a  hard  drinker, 
has  been  influenced  by  you  to  sign  the  pledge.'  I  have,  per- 
haps, addressed  over  two  hundred  thousand  people  within  the 
past  year.  At  Elmira  nine  thousand  signed  the  pledge.  The 
result  in  Tioga  and  Chemung  counties,  Pennsylvania — over 
twenty-one  thousand  signed  the  pledge.  It  is  impossible  to 
stop  the  temperance  work  wherever  it  has  been  commenced. 
There  are  over  one  hundred  men  scattered  through  this  State 
who  are  earnestly  laboring  for  the  cause  of  temperance.  Mr. 
Murphy  is  receiving  communications  from  all  directions  to 
extend  his  movement  there.  The  cause  is  spreading  all  around 
Troy,  Cohoes,  Fort  Edward,  Waterford,  Lansingburgh,  White- 
hall, and  many  other  places  are  being  awakened  by  the  ravages 
that  rum  is  causing  in  their  midst.  This  work  is  no  respecter 
of  party  or  sex,  but  with  its  motto, '  With  Malice  toward  none 
and  Charity  for  all,'  the  gospel  temperance  is  fast  developing  and 
will  soon  extend  all  over  the  entire  country.  We  have  been 
wonderfully  blessed  during  our  labors  in  this  city,  both  in  this 
hall  and  in  the  prayer-meetings  which  have  been  held  at  the 
Fifth  street  Baptist  church.  It  is  surprising,  how  many  of  the 
laboring  classes  have  sacrificed  time  to  attend  these  noonday 
prayer-meetings.  We  feel  grateful  to  the  citizens  of  Troy  for 
the  greeting  they  have  given  us,  and  to  the  press  of  the  city 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  783 

of  Troy,  who  had  given  both  time  and  space  to  the  advance- 
ment of  the  temperance  work,  and  many  times  at  great  ex- 
pense. I  have  been  in  the  newspaper  business,  and  know  the 
worth  of  a  column  of  space  in  a  daily  paper.  The  people 
want  to  know  something  more.thjin  who  has  got  control, 
Conover  or  Patterson,  down  in  the  Senate.  What  does  it 
matter  who  rules  in  Washington  to  a  woman  who  has  a  hus- 
band who  drinks  rum.  It  is  a  question  with  her,  will  her 
husband  sign  the  pledge  and  thus  make  her  home  happy,  for 
this  world  is  growing  too  dark  with  drunken  husbands.  But 
my  friends,  I  can  to-night  congratulate  you  upon  the  favorable 
outlook  as  regards  the  reformation  from  intemperance.  Mr. 
Murphy  intends  to  'fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all 
winter?  Last  night  the  proprietor  of  the  principal  hotel  in 
this  city  came  to  me,  and  handing  me  $50,  said,  'Put  my 
name  on  the  temperance  committee,  and  if  that  is  not  enough 
I  will  give  more.'  So  you  see  these  men  who  sell  liquor 
have  hearts  as  large  as  a  steamboat.  If  you  want  a  re- 
vival of  religion  in  this  city  you  must  encourage  this  cause. 
If  you  find  it  more  difficult  to  keep  the  motto  than  the  pledge 
we  will  keep  the  motto,  '  \Vith  Malice  toward  none '  uncontam- 
inated  till  we  overcome  the  great  obstacle." 

Again  on  another  occasion  :  "  I  like  good  children,  and 
it  has  been  our  custom  to  hold  what  is  called  a  children's 
meeting,  in  places  where  we  have  labored  before  ;  so  you  wall 
not  be  surprised  to  learn  that  the  proposition  has  been  made 
that  we  hold  a  similar  meeting  in  this  city.  As  I  said  before, 
I  like  good  little  boys  and  girls,  but  when  I  see  a  little  boy 
smoking  or  swearing,  it  is  sufficient  evidence  to  me  that  he  is 
not  good,  and  it  is  but  a  question  of  time  when  he  will  acquire 
greater  vices.  It  is  strange,  my  friends,  how  closely  whisky, 
tobacco  and  blasphemy,  are  linked  together.  The  one  leads  on 
to  the  other,  and  it  is  best  for  parents  to  prohibit  the  use  of 
either  by  their  children.  Boys  that  swear  and  smoke  soon 
take  to  whisky  drinking,  and  then  their  sole  ambition  is  to 
tend  a  bar.  I  know  it  is  so,  for  when  I  drank  the  bartender 


784  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

was  my  admiration,  and  I  delighted  to  look  upon  the  gilded 
fixings  of  the  bar-room — gilded,  I  suppose,  to  make  the  path 
to  hell  pleasanter. 

"  I  remember  last  decoration  day  at  Elmira — I  was  in  the 
army,  and  so  belonged  to  the.  G.  A.  R. — we  visited  the  graves 
of  our  fellow-comrades,  and  decorated  them  with  flowers  and 
wreaths  and  other  devices,  and  above  each  grave  was  planted 
a  tiny  representation  of  the  flag  under  which  they  had  fought 
so  well.  And  I  remember  on  that  day  a  widow,  one  of  my 
neighbors,  stood  by  the  grave  of  her  son,  and  I  recollect  how 
proud  she  was  to  see  her  loved  one's  grave  beautified  by  the 
floral  tributes  to  his  bravery.  Another  widow  stood  by  her 
son's  grave.  But  no  flag  marked  his  resting  place — he  died  a 
drunkard.  I  looked  at  the  little  mound  of  earth,  and  the 
thought  flashed  through  my  mind,  '  No  drunkard  shall  enter 
the  Kingdom  of  Heaven.'  There  was  no  joy  or  pride  for  that 
mother  ;  but  I  doubt  not  that  at  one  time  she  was  proud  of 
her  boy.  He  graduated  at  the  high  school  in  Elmira.  He 
studied  for  a  profession  that  would  have  paid  him  well,  but  he 
began  to  drink.  After  a  while  the  gate  of  despair  was  opened 
to  his  mother,  and  he  died  a  drunkard. 

".How  sad  !  Yet  he  is  but  one  of  70,000  who  die  yearly, 
die  as  he  died,  in  these  United  States.  What  an  army  !  I 
remember  on  the  peninsula  under  McClellan,  I  was  sent  to  lay 
a  corduroy  road,  over  which  the  army  was  to  pass,  and  after 
it  was  finished  myself  and  men  stopped  to  see  the  men  go  by. 
All  day.  long  and  the  next,  the  soldiers  went  tramp,  tramp, 
tramp,  and  it  seemed  to  me  there  were  men  enough  there  to 
take  a  dozen  Richmonds.  But  there  was  only  100,000.  Now 
in  the  United  States  we  have  an  army  almost  as  large,  march- 
ing steadily  and  surely  to  drunkards'  graves.  Look  at  them — 
faithless  husbands,  fallen  business  men,  prodigal  sons — as  they 
go  on  to  destruction.  And  this  army  is  being  recruited  in 
Troy. 

"  It  concerns  you,  then,  to  see  to  it  that  your  friends  and 
dear  ones  do  not  enlist.  A  young  man  commences  to  diink  in 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  785 

a  fashionable  resort,  but  when  death  claims  him,  it  finds  him 
in  some  corner  grocery.  The  drinker  after  he  has  reached  a 
certain  point  finds  himself  avoided  by  his  former  companions, 
and  he  seeks  others.  If  he  is  employed  in  any  business,  he  is 
the  first  to  go  when  trade  slackens.  His  physical  condition, 
too,  is  ruined.  But  not  only  is  he  injured  physically,  socially 
and  in  a  business  point  of  view,  but  he  is  injured  morally. 
Whisky  fills  up  your  poorhouses  and  prisons.  It  seems  to  me 
that  everybody  has  a  duty  to  perform  in  the  work  of  redeem- 
ing drundards.  But  how  many  of  you  say,  '  I  am  not  my 
brother's  keeper  !'  Maybe  you  have  lager  or  cider  in  your 
cellar  and  give  it  to  your  children.  Tell  me  you  are  not  your 
brother's  keeper  !  You  are,  if  you  love  your  children." 

The  movement  was  generously  seconded  and  aided  by  the 
clergymen  of  Troy,  some  of  whom  became  stanch  and  de- 
voted Murphyites.  Foremost  among  these  divines  stood,  the 
Rev.  Drs.  Baldwin  and  Farrar.  Their  time  and  services  were 
freely  given  to  aid  Francis  Murphy  and  his  noble  cause,  and 
it  would  be  an  impossible  matter  to  transcribe  the  great  and 
almost  wonderful  good  they  did  in  the  movement.  Their 
earnest  and  inspiring  supplications  to  the  throne  of  everlast- 
ing grace,  and  their  thrilling  addresses  at  the  meetings,  will 
live  in  the  memory  of  thousands  for  years  to  come.  The 
laity  has  grasped  the  hand  of  temperance  and  together  they 
walk  amicably,  doing  remarkable  good,  in  fact,  carrying 
everything  with  and  before  them.  The  beautiful  and  enno- 
bling phase  of  total  abstinence  is  its  close  connection  with 
religion — the  powerful  and  plain  evidence  that  God  bends 
over  it,  and  preserves  it.  Divine  aid  is  petitioned  ;  and  its 
wonderful  success,  its  startling  results  are  due  simply  to  God's 
dear  kindness  and  mercy. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  discourses  that  was  ever  heard 
in  Troy  was  a  very  fervent  address  on  intemperance  and  tem- 
perance, delivered  by  the  popular  pastor  of  the  Unitarian 
church,  the  Rev.  William  Fish,  Jr.  He  said  probably  more 
had  been  attempted  for  the  temperance  cause  through  the  in- 


786  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

strumentalities  of  the  law  in  two  or  three  American  States  than 
in  any  other  part  of  the  world.  He  forcibly  said  :  "  Through 
the  frequent  changes  to  which  the  law  has  been  subjected, 
according  as  the  party  of  license  or  prohibition  triumphed  at 
the  polls,  the  law  has  been  brought  into  contempt ;  the  feel- 
ings of  large  numbers  of  people  have  been  embittered  ;  arti- 
fice and  deceit  have  been  directly  fostered  and  encouraged." 

In  speaking  of  the  influence  of  education  on  temperance 
the  gentleman  aptly  remarked  :  "  Ignorance  is  one  of  the  most 
prominent  causes  of  intemperance.  An  ignorant  generation 
or  race,  like  an  ignorant  man,  seeks  in  intoxicating  drink  the 
stimulus  and  excitement  which,  were  it  more  highly  educated, 
it  would  find  in  a  hundred  other  and  better  ways.  Intemper- 
ance commonly  diminishes  as  education  and  the  moral  and  social 
influences  accompanying  it  advance.  The  general  intellectual 
and  moral  elevation  of  mankind  is  the  aim  for  which  the  true 
friend  of  temperance  can  labor  with  the  best  hopes  of  perma- 
nent success.  The  school  and  the  church,  pure  literature,  the 
mechanics'  institutes  and  the  workmen's  clubs  are,  when  prop- 
erly conducted,  the  most  efficient  temperance  agencies." 

Discussing  the  social  habit  of  passing  around  wine,  he  said 
that  it  was  trite  to  say  that  many  a  man  dated  his  ruin  to  the 
first  social  glass,  taken  because  others  took  it  and  invited  him  to 
do  so,  or  at  all  events  to  habits  formed  under  the  influence  of 
a  desire  not  to  appear  singular,  and  yet  it  was  literally  true. 
He  went  on  to  say  : 

"There  has  been  so  much  heated  controversy  over  the 
question  of  total  abstinence,  that  the  plain  and  simple  issue 
has  been  needlessly  obscured.  A  great  deal  of  narrowness 
and  bigotry  have  been  exhibited  on  both  sides.  They  seem 
to  forget  that  it  is  a  simple  matter  of  self-denial  just  like  hun- 
dreds of  other,  and  that  every  individual  ought  to  determine 
his  duty  in  his  own  conscience,  according  to  his  own  estimate 
of  his  responsibilities  and  obligations.  Total  abstainers  be- 
come convinced  that  many  are  led  to  destruction  by  the  ex- 
ample of  others,  and  they  are  determined  to  avoid  the  smallest 


FEANCIS    MUEPHY.  78? 

risk  of  doing  such  a  terrible  harm  by  denying  themselves  a 
small  gratification.  And  are  they  not  deserving  of  honor 
rather  than  of  the  scoffs  which  they  so  often  receive  ?  When 
we  remember  how  many  victims  of  intemperate  habits  even 
the  cultivated  circles  furnish,  and  consider  what  a  far-reach- 
ing influence  the  customs  established  in  those  circles  have, 
does  it  not  seem  likely  that  the  gain  to  the  community  at  large 
would  be  much  greater  than  the  loss  if  the  habitual  use  of 
wine  in  society  were  to  be  abolished  ?  I  am  convinced  that 
the  cause  of  temperance,  which  is  the  cause  of  order,  decency, 
and  of  general  virtue  and  happiness,  would  be  very  materially 
promoted  if  all  persons  in  the  community  who  aim  to  act  from 
conscientious  motives  would  unite  in  discountenancing  the  use 
of  dangerous  stimulants  at  parties  and  on  most  of  the  ordinary 
occasions  of  social  intercourse.  But  these  are  questions  on 
which  no  one  should  dogmatize — '  Let  every  man  be  fully 
persuaded  in  his  own  mind.'  Let  us  be  actuated  by  reason 
and  conscience  and  not  by  mere  impulse  or  recklessness,  and 
let  us  not  forget  our  responsibilities  toward  others — especially 
toward  those  who,  perhaps,  through  an  inherited  or  otherwise 
inherent  physical  predisposition,  are  as  weak  morally  as  a 
little  child  tottering  on  the  edge  of  a  dangerous  precipice  is 
physically." 

In  conclusion  he  said  in  a  masterly  manner  : 

"  No  one  with  a  spark  of  genuine  manhood  in  him  will  hesi- 
tate to  sacrifice  his  own  comfort  when  the  clear  alternative  is 
another's  destruction.  To  avoid  temptation  maybe  cowardly; 
but  to  thrust  it  upon  one  whom  we  know  to  have  no  power  to 
resist,  is  diabolic.  In  all  such  cases  let  us  take  our  stand  on 
the  noble  and  unselfish  declaration  of  St.  Paul,  and  say,  in  his 
spirit,  if  not  in  his  exact  words  :  "  If  wine  make  my  brother 
to  offend,  I  will  drink  no  wine  while  the  world  standeth,  lest  I 
make  my  brother  to  offend." 

On  one  occasion  the  Rev.  Dr.  Daniels,  of  Chicago,  made  a 
glowing  little  address,  addressed  with  peculiar  eloquence  to 
the  last  man.  He  said  as  a  pastor  of  a  Christian  church  he 


788  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

had  known  a  great  deal  about  drunkenness  and  its  effects  upon 
households,  and  related  a  vivid  narrative  of  personal  experi- 
ence with  a  dissipated  parishioner  who  suffered  from  an  attack 
of  delirium  tremens.  In  an  eloquent  manner  the  speaker  de- 
clared he  wished  to  address  himself  particularly  to  the  last 
man,  who,  faltering  in  purpose,  had  failed  to  sign  the  pledge 
that  night.  There  was  still  an  opportunity  offered,  and  he 
entreated  him  to  embrace  it  before  he  left  the  hall.  People 
were  inclined  to  be  too  uncharitable  to  the  confirmed  inebriate. 
One  of  that  class  was  certainly  entitled  to  more  credit  for 
being  sober  one-half  of  the  time  than  he  himself  should  receive 
for  leading  a  perfectly  temperate  life,  because  he  never  had 
any  temptation  to  overcome.  The  clergy  and  all  temperance 
reformers  in  the  past  had  been  working  upon  a  wrong  system, 
and  the  policy  or  idea  introduced  by  Mr.  Murphy  rather  stag- 
gered them,  but  they  would  soon  see  its  wisdom  and  practical 
way  of  treating  the  question.  Referring  to  the  children  of 
drunkards,  he  said  it  would  be  better  for  their  future  good 
that  they  die  young,  while  they  are  untainted,  than  to  grow 
up  and  follow  the  example  of  their  fathers.  In  a  striking  way, 
he  compared  a  drunkard's  life  to  a  pane  of  window  glass,  which 
on  a  wet  day  was  blurred  and  obscured.  "  Oh,  you  last  man," 
exclaimed  the  speaker,  "wouldn't  you  be  glad  to  live  your  life 
over  again  ?  Would  you  begin  as  a  moderate  drinker  ?  [Mr. 
Murphy  cried  out  '  never.']  You  can  be  born  again  and  now 
is  your  chance.  'He  will  save  unto  the  uttermost  all  who 
come  to  Him  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ.'  You  are  forever 
lost  unless  you  take  hold  of  the  hand  of  heaven  that  is  ex- 
tended to  you."  Turning  to  Mr.  Murphy,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Daniels 
said,  "Invite  him,  Brother  Murphy,  you  have  such  a  persuasive 
way,  and  I  do  want  that  '  last '  man  to  come  up  and  sign  the 
pledge." 

During  tne  Troy  excitement  over  the  cause  of  temperance 
reform,  an  open  letter  from  Benjamin  H.  Baldwin,  of  White- 
hall, N.  Y.,  to  Rev.  Dr.  Howard  Crosby,  of  New  York  city, 
on  this  great  subject,  was  published  ;  and  it  was  so  frequently 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  789 

alluded  to  and  made  the  l/ext  for  discussion  both  from  the 
platform  and  the  editor's  sanctum,  that  in  referring  to  the  mis- 
cellaneous matters  of  interest  involved  in  the  campaign  in 
Eastern  New  York,  we  feel  impelled  to  give  it  in  full.  Its 
strength  and  pungency  make  it  a  valuable  contribution  to  tem- 
perance literature  : 

"  'If  wine  make  my  brother  to  offend,  I  will  drink  no  wine  While 
the  world  standeth,  lest  I  make  my  brother  to  offend.' 

"WHITEHALL,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  30,  1877. 

"  Rev.  HOWARD  CKOSBT,  D.  D.,  New  York  city. 
"  Reverend  Sir : 

In  September  last  I  addressed  you  an  open  letter  through 
the  public  press,  expostulating  with  you  against  your  public 
advocacy  of  the  indiscriminate  use  of  wine  and  strong  beer  as 
a  beverage.  In  pleading  with  you  to  abandon  your  open  hos- 
tility to  the  doctrine  of  total  abstinence,  I  brought  to  your 
view,  I  thought  quite  plainly,  the  great  temptation  you  were 
presenting  to  reformed  men  to  tamper  with  intoxicating  drinks, 
and  I  pointed  out  the  danger  of  doing  so,  even  with  those  of 
the  mildest  forms.  As  an  exact  case  in  point,  I  cited  my  own, 
which  was  based  upon  an  experience  of  thirty  years  of  inebri- 
ation, and  I  stated  to  you  truly,  that  after  four  years  of  strict 
total  abstinence,  the  old  fires  were  not  quenched,  nor  the 
old  appetite  obliterated,  but  were  merely  lying  dormant,  held 
so  by  the  restraining  forces  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  such 
as  strict  total  abstinence,  the  singing  of  the  pledge  with  its 
constant  reminder,  a  determined  will,  proper  social  surround- 
ings, freedom  from  temptation,  etc.,  and  always  including  the 
mercy  of  God.  I  stated  to  you  truly,  sir,  that  but  a  single 
taste  from  the  fascinating  cup  which  you  are  holding  out  for 
acceptance,  as  if  in  mockery  against  the  better  intelligence  of 
the  country,  would  unchain  the  insatiable  monster  within 
me,  and  lead  me  straight  down  to  a  drunkard's  doom.  On 
October  2  last,  I  addressed  a  letter  to  you  through  the  mail  / 
and  in  it  informed  you  that  my  open  letter  above  (a  copy 
of  which  I  enclosed),  had  been  published  in  several  news- 


790  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

papers,  which  I  named.  I  also  enclosed  a  photograph  of  a  man 
who  is  63  years  old  to-day,  and  who  has  almost  been  destroyed 
by  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquor,  and  upon  the  fly-leaf  I  wrote  as 
follows  :  'Ruined  by  strong  drink — now  sober — do  not,  I  pray 
you,  tempt  me  back  to  death,  by  offering  me  wine  and  ale.'  I 
Bhould  have  supposed  that  the  wrinkled  and  sorrowful  coun- 
tenance beneath  the  whitened  locks  of  that  picture,  coupled 
,vith  the  piteous  appeal  accompanying  it,  would  have  moved 
four  heart  to  at  least  have  sent  me  a  word  of  encouragement 
— that  you  would  have  wafted  a  prayer  even  to  my  ears  bidding 
me  be  of  good  cheer  and  to  stand  steadfast,  notwithstanding 
the  temptations  which  your  theory  and  practice  subjected  me 
to.  I  was  charitable  enough  to  believe  that  you  did  not  intend 
that  your  advocacy  of  moderate  drinking  should  apply  to  re- 
formed inebriates,  enticing  them  back  to  dissipation,  and  that 
you  did  not  realize  the  danger  which  would  attach  to  that 
class  by  the  promulgation  of  your  doctrine  ;  and  I  had  so 
much  faith  in  the  honor  of  mankind,  that  I  believed  you  would 
retract  the  dangerous  heresy  in  which  you  had  become  involved, 
as  I  appealed  to  you  in  the  most  earnest  manner  to  dp. 

"The  alarming  increase  of  lager  beer  saloons  throughout 
the  country,  stimulated  and  encouraged  by  your  countenance 
and  support,  together  with  your  late  public  opposition  to  the 
healthful  restraints  sought  to  be  imposed  upon  the  large 
hotels  of  New  York  city  in  regard  to  closing  their  bars  on 
Sunday,  and  abstaining  from  the  sale  of  liquor  between  the 
hours  of  1  o'clock  and  5  o'clock  A.  M.,  as  the  law  requires, 
as  also  your  late  public  recommendation  through  the  New 
York  press,  that  liquor  licenses  be  granted  to  all  hotels  and 
respectable  saloons,  and  that  beer  licenses  be  granted  indis- 
criminately, justifies  me,  in  my  own  behalf,  as  well  as  that  of 
oppressed  humanity,  to  again  enter  my  solemn  protest.  That 
I  may  not  seem  to  be  alone  in  this  feeling  of  disapproval  of 
your  course,  I  can  assure  you  that  such  feeling  is  very  general, 
and  I  will  cite  a  case  in  point,  as  follows  :  On  the  25th  inst., 
an  entertainment  was  given,  in  New  York  by  the  American 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  791 

Temperance  Union  to  the  English  temperance  advocate,  Wil- 
liam Noble,  on  the  eve  of  his  departure  for  England,  and  Mr. 
Noble  was  presented  with  several  valuable  presents  as  testi- 
monials, and  while  acknowledging  his  thanks  in  a  short  total 
abstinence  speech,  he  boldly  criticised  your  course  as  follows  : 
'  To  him  (yourself)  I  say,  you  came  before  the  public  in  an 
interview  with  the  Tribune,  and  you  say  you  keep  wine  upon 
your  table.  I  tell  you  the  devil  is  in  that  wine?  I  agree  with 
Mr.  Noble,  sir,  and  I  now  make  the  same  assertion.  I  have 
reason  for  doing  so,  and  have  better  proof  than  he,  for  '  I 
know  how  it  is'  myself.  From  1850  to  1860  I  was  a  total 
abstinence  man,  and  was  so  rigid  and  straight  in  my  observ- 
ance that  it  might  be  said  I  fairly  leaned  over  backward.  At 
this  last  period,  fortune  drove  me  into  a  hotel,  and  seemed  to 
drive  me  also  to  stock  its  cellar  with  a  small  quantity  of  wines 
and  liquors,  supposed  to  be  necessary  for  guests  at  its  table. 
The  tempter  could  not  force  me  to  keep  a  bar,  as  I  once 
had  done,  but  at  an  opportune  and  fatal  moment,  while 
I  was  suffering  from  exhaustion,  he  did  tempt  me  to  partake 
of  a  little  simple  claret  wine,  a  beverage  scarcely  more 
intoxicating  than  cider.  The  devil  was  aroused  on  the  in- 
stant. I  was  that  moment  lost.  In  less  than  an  hour  a  bot- 
tle of  champagne  was  swallowed,  and  before  twenty-four 
hours  had  elapsed  I  had  resorted  to  brandy.  Thirteen  consec- 
utive years  of  inebriation  followed,  without  any  cessation, 
and  my  rescue  at  last  was  brought  about  by  means  something 
akin  to  a  special  interposition  of  Providence.  In  self-defense, 
therefore,  as  well  as  in  behalf  of  imperilled  humanity,  and 
especially  of  reformed  inebriates  generally,  I  now  repeat  my 
protest,  as  I  have  a  right  to  do,  against  your  insidious  and 
most  pernicious  doctrine.  Although  God's  forbearance  may 
be  for  a  long  time  extended,  I  now  give  you  warning,  sir,  that 
your  doctrine  and  its  following  will  surely  come  to  grief  ; 
not  perhaps  until  after  thousands  shall  ha\e  fallen,  and  have 
beew  slain,  but  yet,  not  the  less  surely,  for  God  in  his  mercy 
is  even  now  raising  up  '  an  army  with  banners,'  whose  glitter- 


792  THE  LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 

ing  swords  and  spears  have  been  dipped  in  the  divine  essence 
of  charity,  love  and  good  will,  and  this  band  of  invincible 
heroes  and  heroines,  marshalled  by  such  captains  as  Francis 
Murphy,  are  rushing  forward  to  raise  the  fallen,  to  '  rescue  the 
perishing,'  and  dry  up  the  founts  from  whence  their  miseries 
flow.  When  the  last  wail  of  anguish  shall  come  up  from  the 
besotted  and  their  beloved  ones,  when  the  last  coiled  worm 
of  the  distillery,  the  last  mash-tub  of  the  brewery,  and  the 
last  cider  mill  and  wine  press,  or  other  kindred  device  of  the 
enemy,  shall  have  passed  away  forever,  then  will  this  army  of 
blessed  Christian  knights  declare  their  forces  disbanded  ;  but 
never  before,  Dr.  Crosby,  never,  never,  NEVER  ! 

"BENJ.  H.  BALDWIN." 

A  man,  named  Frank  Brady,  was  led  forward  on  the  plat- 
form one  night  by  Mr.  Murphy,  and  he  said  that  he  felt  like  a 
lost  boy  glad  to  see  his  father.  He  said  that  it  was  the  kind 
words  of  Francis  Murphy  that  had  made  him  what  he  was.  He 
was  in  an  intoxicated  condition  when  he  took  the  pledge,  but 
he  had  kept  it  so  f  a/  and  he  was  certain  he  could  always  keep  it. 

Mr.  Murphy  related  a  touching  anecdote  of  the  reformation 
of  a  man  out  West  who,  once  wealthy  and  respected,  had  be- 
come poor  and  disgraced  through  the  use  of  intoxicating 
liquors,  and  finally  by  kindness  was  induced  to  sign  the  total 
abstinence  pledge,  and  became  a  respectable  citizen.  With  an 
earnest  appeal  to  the  people  to  come  forward  and  sign  the 
pledge  in  the  presence  of  the  audience,  their  wives  and  their 
country,  and  be  saved,  Mi".  Murphy  wished  them  all  good- 
night. 

The  following  incident  will  be  read  with  interest  : 

"  Three  old,  long  and  lean  drinkers  of  this  city  joined  the 
Murphy  movement  just  one  month  ago,  and  were  weighed  a 
day  or  two  ago.  One,  the  longest  and  leanest,  had  gained  ex- 
actly ten  pounds,  the  others  eight  and  a  half  pounds  each. 
The  first  figured  up  his  account  with  the  temperance  cause 
about  thus  :  Cash  saved,  $75  ;  flesh  gained  ($5  per  pound), 
$50  ;  in  feeling,  §500  ;  to  his  family,  $10,000  ;  total,  §10,625." 


FKANCIS    MURPHY.  793 

A  frequent  customer  before  the  Rochester  police  courts  for 
drunkenness  was  Thomas  Jones  (or  rather  that  was  his  alias), 
who  was  once  chaplain  to  one  of  the  most  powerful  inonarchs 
of  Europe.  He  had  just  been  suspended  from  a  flourishing 
pastorate  because  of  his  uncontrollable  appetite.  While  un- 
dergoing examination  the  other  day  a  glass  of  whisky  was 
given  him  to  enable  him  to  "brace  up."  What  a  tempei-ance 
lecture  was  such  a  life  ! 

In  the  Syracuse  Journal  an  article  appeared,  which  well 
described,  the  life  of  a  drunkard,  from  the  rosy  flush  of  a  life 
full  of  glad  promise,  to  the  dark  and  terrible  end.  It  is  as 
follows  : 

"  Fifteen  years  ago,  there  were  few  more  prominent  or  pros- 
perous young  men  in  Onondago  county.  He  moved  in  the 
first  circles  of  society,  was  prominent  in  an  orthodox  church, 
and  was  financially  prosperous.  He  was  popular  with  the  pub- 
lic, and  enjoyed  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  all  who  knew  him. 

"  He  was  one  of  the  first  to  volunteer  in  the  war  of  the  rebel- 
lion, and  afterwards  occupied  the  position  of  Provost  Marshal 
for  this  district.  Subsequently  he  was  elected  treasurer  of 
Onoudago  county.  While  in  office,  he  became  addicted  to  the 
use  of  intoxicating  beverages,  and  from  that  time  till  to-day, 
he  has  known  no  contentment  of  mind  and  has  gradually  sunk 
deeper  and  deeper  into  the  terrible  abyss,  which  has  finally 
utterly  engulfed  him. 

"  To-day  he  was  sentenced  to  prison  for  fifteen  years  ;  sen- 
tenced for  life  unquestionably. 

"  It  is  with  sorrow  and  pain  that  we  reflect  upon  his  career, 
and  we  call  it  to  mind  only  that  it  may  prove  a  warning  to 
young  men.  He  is  more  the  victim  of  intoxicating  drinks 
than  of  evil  inclinations  ;  the  strait  in  which  his  appetite 
placed  him  influenced  to  the  commission  of  evil.  There  is  a 
sad  lesson  in  this  sentence." 

Mr.  Alexander  Cooper  of  Port  Jervis,  a  convert  and  strong 
advocate  of  total  abstinenc^,  was  on  one  occasion  introduced 
by  Mr.  Murphy,  and  made  the  following  speech,  which  ro- 
34 


794  THE   LIFE  AND  WORK   OF 

ceived  great  favor  from  the  large  audience  to  whom  he  ad- 
dressed it : 
"  MI/  Friends : 

'•  I  feel  a  great  pleasure  in  being  present  with  you  to-night, 
so  near  to  my  dear  brother  Murphy,  and  I  consider  it  a  glori- 
ous privilege  that  we  are  all  enabled  to  take  part  in  this  grand 
work  of  reclaiming  the  fallen.  One  year  ago  to-day  I  was  a 
poor  drunkard  in  the  city  of  Pittsburgh.  But  you  will  forgive 
me  if  I  do  not  dwell  long  on  that  period  in  my  life,  for  the  re- 
collection is  too  horrible  almost  to  be  endured.  I  will  simply 
speak  of  my  reformation.  I  was  traveling  down  one  of  our 
principal  streets  one  evening,  when  I  saw  a  large  crowd  in  front 
of  an  opera  house.  Inquiry  brought  the  answer  that  there  was 
a  temperance  advocate  lecturing  inside.  Now,  I  had  never 
before  experienced  a  desire  to  hear  a  temperance  lecturer,  for 
with  them  were  associated  in  my  mind  thoughts  of  vituperative 
denouncements  of  all  drunkards,  including  myself.  But  some- 
how an  irresistible  impulse  urged  me  to  enter  the  hall,  and  I 
did  so.  Still  expecting  nothing  but  abuse,  you  can  imagine 
my  surprise  at  the  words  of  kindness  which  fell  from  Mr. 
Murphy — for  it  was  he  who  was  addressing  the  meeting — and 
when  he  concluded  I  was  deeply  touched.  I  still  lacked  the 
power  to  sign  my  name  to  the  pledge,  however,  and  I  waited 
for  somebody  to  invite  me  forward.  But  I  had  fallen  so  low 
that  the  good  men  and  ladies  in  the  aisle  where  I  stood  avoided 
me,  as  if  I  were  contamination,  and  my  good  resolutions  were 
wavering,  when  Mr.  Murphy  advanced  towards  me  and  grasp- 
ing my  hand,  urged  me  to  break  off  my  evil  ways,  as,  he  said, 
there  was  hope  for  me  yet.  I  could  not  resist  the  appeal.  I 
signed  the  pledge,  and  asked  God  to  help  me  keep  it.  When 
I  had  done  so,  I  felt  as  if  I  had  at  last  done  something,  which, 
if  I  could  keep  my  resolution,  would  make  me  a  man  again, 
I  went  home  and  there  battled  with  my  awful  appetite,  battled 
as  only  those  who  have  passed  through  a  similar  experience 
can  have  any  app  reciation  of.  BuV  God  gave  me  strength,  and 
after  I  had  conquered  with  His  help,  I  felt  as  if  I  had  a  duty 


FEA1STCIS    MUKPHY.  795 

to  perform.  I  felt  that  in  this  world  there  are  thousands  who 
are  like  I  was,  and  they  are  lost  if  Christians  refuse  to  aid 
them.  Go  out  and  tell  them  they  are  not  despised.  Don't 
shun  them  as  if  their  very  touch  were  pollution,  but  by  kind- 
ness raise  them  to  a  higher  level. 

"  When  we  speak  of  intemperance,  we  usually  refer  to  the 
vice  as  it  prevails  among  the  lower  orders  of  society,  but  to- 
night I  shall  speak  of  it  as  it  exists  everywhere,  among  the 
high  as  well  as  the  low.  When  you  think  of  intoxicating 
liquors,  you  think  of  saloons  and  bar-rooms,  but  I  mean  to  go 
to  the  fountain  head,  where  liquor  drinking  is  made  a  feature 
of  fashion  and  social  respectability.  We  must  first  drive  the 
deadly  cup  from  such  places  if  we  would  redeem  the  land 
from  intemperance.  In  hundreds  of  thousands  of  first-class 
families,  side-boards  are  just  as  respectable  as  the  table 
whereon  the  Bible  lies — the  family  altar,  if  you  please.  Gen- 
tlemen take  pleasure  in  showing  friends  who  visit  them  their 
cellar  well  stowed  with  alcoholic  liquors.  In  this  fashionable 
drinking  originates  the  major  part  of  the  evil  of  intemper- 
ance. People  that  would  abhor  taking  a  friend  to  a  saloon  to 
drink  are  not  ashamed  to  make  bar  keepers  of  themselves.  I 
know  about  this  business,  and  I  say  that  those  who  keep 
saloons  are  often  more  manly,  and  less  dangerous  to  society, 
than  these  patrons  of  the  vice  in  its  gilded  forms. 

"  I  say  that  to-day  you  can  go  into  saloons  and  raise  more 
money  for  charitable  purposes  than  you  can  get  in  the  prayer- 
meetings.  This  is  because  these  men,  so  low  down  in  the 
social  scale,  have  hearts  as  big  as  steamboats.  I  mean  to  say 
they  are  men,  and  you  must  go  to  them  in  the  spirit  of  the 
sermon  on  the  mount,  if  you  would  do  them  good.  James 
Parton  says  that  for  forty  years  total  abstainers  have  made 
no  advance,  and  Dr.  Trail  still  further  declares  that  while  this 
class  of  temperance  men  have  been  giving  their  sole  attention 
to  their  theories,  the  practical  work  of  reform  has  been  ne- 
glects d.  They  have  riot  gone  into  the  highways  and  hedges 
after  the  lost." 


796  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

Col.  Caldwell  paid  the  following  glowing  tribute  to  the 
Western  crusaders,  the  bands  of  temperance  women  whose 
work  is  yet,  and  always  will  be,  the  romance  of  all  temperance 
movements  : 

"  The  great  good  they  did  was  in  demonstrating  the  efficacy 
of  prayer.  It  is  fit  that  women  should  work  in  the  temper- 
ance cause.  They  are  the  principal  sufferers  from  the  evil, 
and  their  influence  is  especially  potent  with  erring  fathers, 
husbands  and  sons.  No  one  feels  more  than  Francis  Murphy 
that  this  work  is  of  God.  Was  it  the  touch  alone  of  the  little 
girl  to  the  key  of  the  electric  battery  that  scattered  the  sub- 
marine rocks  at  Hellgate,  in  the  East  river,  and  that  deserves 
mention  in  connection  with  the  event  ;  or,  rather,  was  it  not 
the  thousands  of  days'  work  laid  out  in  honey-combing  the 
rocks,  the  toil  for  years  of  diggers  and  other  laborers  that 
made  the  explosion  possible,  that  should  be  remembered  and 
honored  ?  So  it  is  with  this  work  here  to-day.  We  are  only 
reaping  the  fruits  of  the  prayers  and  the  labors  of  temperance 
men  and  women  for  years  past." 

Thomas  E.  Murphy  delivered  his  first  speech  in  Troy  in  the 
following  felicitous  fashion,  eliciting  considerable  applause  : 
"  Mr.  Chairman  and  my  dear  friends  : 

"As  already  stated  by  my  introducer,  Col.  Caldwell  was  the 
first  to  present  me  to  an  audience,  and  never  will  I  forget  the 
trepidation  and  anxiety  I  experienced  in  making  my  first 
speech,  but  I  thank  God  I  was  permitted  to  enlist  my  efforts  in 
this  noble  cause  of  temperance.  I  can  look  back  and  remem- 
ber our  pleasant  and  happy  home,  which  was  afterwards  ruined 
through  the  medium  of  rum  and  intemperance,  but  I  trust, 
now  since  we  have  consecrated  ourselves  to  the  work  of  tem- 
perance reform,  we  have  all  been  pardoned  by  the  heavenly 
Father  who  forgets  and  forgives  the  truly  penitent  and  re- 
formed. Each  and  every  one  of  us  are  capable  of  exerting 
some  influence,  and  it  is  our  duty  to  direct  our  efforts  and  ex- 
tend a  helping  hand  towards  the  amelioration  of  our  fallen 
brethren.  Let  us  employ  kind  words  alone,  for  they  certainly 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  797 

go  a  great  ways,  and  when  you  meet  a  man  in  your  streets 
who  has  unfortunately  become  a  victim  of  intemperance  speak 
kindly  to  him  and  endeavor  to  accomplish  his  reformation. 
Looking  at  the  matter  from  a  financial  standpoint,  it  costs  a 
great  deal  to  indulge  in  intoxicating  drinks,  and  few  men  can 
afford  to  do  so.  Let  us  then  make  up  our  minds  to  abstain, 
sign  the  total  abstinence  pledge,  and  unite  our  efforts  in 
strengthening  this  gospel  temperance,  and  labor  with  noble 
action  in  the  blessed  cause.  The  fact  that  a  man  is  instru- 
mental in  saving  a  soul  will  cover  a  multitude  of  sins.  Let  us 
work  bravely  on,  with  the  motto  ever  in  mind  :  *  Malice 
towards  none  and  Charity  for  all.'  Good  night." 

Another  brief  address,  delivered  by  young  Murphy,  who  has 
shown  himself  to  be  the  genuine  son  of  his  father,  contained 
this  well  put  passage  : 

"  I  thank  God  for  what  I  see  and  hear  and  know  of  the 
blessed  \vork  of  temperance.  It  is  a  grand  thing  to  be  a  young 
man  who  has  resolved  to  lead  a  life  of  righteousness,  and  in- 
terested in  a  cause  from  which  only  untold  benefit  to  the 
masses  can  accrue.  It  is  a  cause  in  which  every  body  can  labor, 
and  do  something  good.  Young  man,  never  start  out  in  life, 
by  drinking  ale  !  You  all  know  the  story  of  Richard  Yates. 
He  was  a  man  whose  abilities  at  one  time  were  the  pride  of 
the  nation,  and  had  he  never  contracted  the  habit  of  drinking, 
would  have  a  reputation  for  himself  second  only  to  the  names 
of  Washington  and  Lincoln.  But  he  fell,  and  only  through 
his  confidence  in  himself — supposing  that  he  could  tamper 
with  the  serpent  without'  being  stung." 

On  one  occasion  Mr.  Murphy  made  an  interesting  speech,  in 
which  he  referred  to  the  educational  facilities  of  our  country. 
He  said  there  was  no  reason  for  poor  people  to  say  they  could 
not  afford  to  educate  their  children,  for  an  equal  advantage 
was  given  to  rich  and  poor,  and  the  poor  boy  might,  if  he 
chose,  acquire  an  education  equal  to  the  son  of  a  prince. 
Every  man  has  /;he  ability  to  educate  his  children.  He  said 
that  d  a  man  did  not  put  anything  in  his  mouth  which  would 


798  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

take  away  his  brain  he  would  be  able  to  educate  his  children. 
The  speaker  said  that  the  people  of  to-day  were  too  anxious 
to  amass  fortunes,  and  after  they  had  accumulated  several 
thousand  dollars  they  were  not  contented  with  it. 

Fashions,  he  said,  had  a  great  tendency  to  make  a  man  poor. 
He  believed  that  it  lay  in  the  power  of  every  man  to  make 
himself  honorable  and  independent,  but  no  man  would  ever 
arrive  at  that  standpoint  till  he  was  willing  to  help  himself. 

Mr.  Murphy  told  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  the  reformation 
of  a  poor  drunkard  who,  while  intoxicated,  signed  the  prohib- 
itory oath  because  he  thought  it  would  do  somebody  else 
good.  In  the  immense  audience  which  greeted  Mr.  Murphy 
on  that  occasion  were  the  man's  wife  and  three  small  children, 
and  as  he  tottered  along  the  aisle  toward  the  stand  the 
anxiety  upon  the  woman's  face  was  almost  painful.  Reach- 
ing the  stand,  William — that  was  his  name — took  the  pen  in 
his  hand  and  affixed  his  name  at  the  bottom  of  the  page. 
While  he  was  writing  his  wife  moved  from  her  position  and 
when  he  had  finished,  threw  both  her  thin,  white  arms  around 
his  neck  and  kissed  him.  Subsequently  Mr.  Murphy  was  in- 
vited to  dine  with  the  now  happy  family,  and  while  at  the 
house,  the  wife  told  him  how  terrible  had  been  her  struggle. 
At  one  time  she  had  determined  to  die,  but  while  on  her  way 
to  the  wood-shed  with  suicide  in  her  mind,  she  was  met  by  a 
little  infant  child,  who  asked  her  where  she  was  going.  For 
a  while  resolution  wavered,  and  at  last  natural  instinct  pre- 
vailed, and  she  determined  to  live  to  fight  for  her  children. 
"  Oh,  husbands,  men  !"  said  Mr.  Murphy,  concluding,  "  let  us 
redeem  the  past !  Come  forward  and  sign  the  pledge  !" 

We  must  bring  our  record  of  the  Murphy  movement  at 
Troy,  in  its  details,  and  its  overflow  into  the  surrounding 
towns,  to  a  close.  It  has  become  the  devotion  of  a  life-time 
with  this  great  missionary  of  temperance  truth,  and  the  strik- 
ing results  of  his  efforts  are  continually  accumulating.  Hardly 
a  week  passes  without  adding  new  and  startling  phenomena  to 
the  sum  total  of  his  life  ;  not  new  in  the  essential  principles, 


FEAXCIS    MUEPHY.  V99 

but  striking  in  the  dramatic  forms  in  which  they  shape  them- 
selves. The  worst  passions  of  humanity  form  the  back-ground 
on  which  the  glorious  results  are  set ;  into  it  enter  the  tears 
alike  of  despair  and  joy,  pouring  from  the  eyes  of  mothers, 
sisters,  wives,  sweethearts  and  children  ;  the  misery  and  re- 
pentance of  strong  men  wrested  from  the  clutch  of  the  fiend 
of  rum,  and  made  to  feel  that  they  are  once  more  men  with 
the  right  to  look  their  fellow-men  frankly  and  clearly  in  the 
eyes. 

Other  strong-minded  and  strong-willed  enthusiasts  in  the 
cause  of  good  have  done  this  in  certain  measure  also.  But 
there  is  but  one  Francis  Murphy,  and  the  work  he  has  accom- 
plished is  so  extraordinary  as  to  make  him  a  hero  and  a  giant 
among  his  fellow-workers.  In  dedicating  his  life  to  this  duty 
of  rescuing  his  fellow-men  from  the  infamous  degradation  of 
drunkenness,  Murphy  has  recognized  the  supreme  necessity 
inherent  in  the  social  life  of  to-day.  Alcohol  in  its  various 
forms  destroys  more  men  than  war,  plague,  pestilence  and 
famine,  slaying  the  soul  with  the  body.  The  lunatic  asylum 
and  the  prison  draw  from  its  powerful  aid,  as  a  recruiting 
sergeant,  the  majority  of  the  army  of  wretches  that  fill  them  ; 
and,  strange  to  say,  among  the  refined  and  intelligent  classes 
we  find  a  deep  obtuseness  on  this  subject.  Clergymen  and 
physicians  even  yet  palliate  the  use  of  wine  and  spirits  as  a 
beverage  ;  though,  thanks  to  an  enlightened  public  sentiment 
which  is  daily  becoming  stronger,  it  is  far  better  than  of  old. 
Gough,  in  one  of  his  temperance  lectures,  tells  a  thrilling  story, 
which  illustrates  the  tremendous  responsibility  imposed  on 
those  men  whose  profession  and  intellectual  culture  make 
them  public  guides.  Mr.  Gough's  rccountal  is  as  follows  : 

"  At  a  certain  town  meeting  in  Pennsylvania,  the  question 
came  up  whether  any  persons  should  be  licensed  to  sell  rum. 
The  clergyman,  the  deacon,  the  physician,  strange  as  it  may 
now  appear,  all  favored  it ;  one  man  only  spoke  against  it,  be- 
cause of  the  mischief  it  did.  The  question  was  about  to  be 
put,  when  there  arose  from  one  corner  of  the  room  a  miserable 


800 

woman.  She  was  thinly  clad,  and  her  appearance  indicated 
the  utmost  wretchedness,  and  that  her  mortal  career  was  almost 
closed.  After  a  moment's  silence,  and  all  eyes  being  fixed 
upon  her,  she  stretched  her  attenuated  body  to  its  utmost 
height,  and  then  her  long  arms  to  their  greatest  length,  and 
raising  her  voice  to  a  shrill  pitch,  she  called  to  all  to  look  upon 
her. 

"'Yes  !'  she  said,  'look  upon  me,  and  then  hear  me.  All 
that  the  last  speaker  has  said  relative  to  temperate  drink- 
ing, as  being  the  father  of  drunkenness,  is  true.  All  practice, 
all  experience,  declares  its  truth.  All  drinking  of  alcoholic 
poison,  as  a  beverage  in  health,  is  excess.  Look  upon  me! 
You  all  know  me,  or  once  did.  You  all  know  I  was  once  the 
mistress  of  the  best  farm  in  the  town.  You  all  know,  too,  I 
had  one  of  the  best — the  most  devoted  of  husbands.  You  all 
know  that  I  had  fine,  noble-hearted,  industrious  boys.  Where 
are  they  now  ?  Doctor,  where  are  they  now  ?  You  all  know. 
You  all  know  they  lie  in  a  row,  side  by  side,  in  yonder  church- 
yard ;  all — every  one  of  them  filling  the  drunkard's  grave  ! 
They  were  all  taught  to  believe  that  temperate  drinking  was 
safe — that  excess  alone  ought  to  be  avoided  ;  and  they  never 
acknowledged  excess.  They  quoted  you,  and  you,  and  you,' 
pointing  with  her  shred  of  a  finger  to  the  minister,  deacon  and 
doctor,  '  as  authority.  They  thought  themselves  safe  under 
such  teachers.  But  I  saw  the  gradual  change  coming  over  my 
family  and  its  prospects,  with  dismay  and  horror.  I  felt  we 
were  all  to  be  overwhelmed  in  one  common  ruin.  I  tried  to 
ward  off  the  blow  ;  I  tried  to  break  the  spell,  the  delusive 
spell,  in  which  the  idea  of  the  benefits  of  temperate  drinking 
had  involved  my  husband  and  sons.  I  begged,  I  prayed  ;  but 
the  odds  were  against  me. 

"  '  The  minister  said  the  poison  that  was  destroying  my  hus- 
band and  boys  was  a  good  creature  of  God  ;  the  deacon  who 
sits  under  the  pulpit  there,  and  took  our  farm  to  pay  his  rum 
bills,  sold  them,  the  poison  ;  the  doctor  said  a  little  was  good, 
and  the  excess  only  ought  to  be  avoided.  My  poor  husband 


FRAXCIS    MURPHY.  801 

and  my  dear  boys  fell  into  the  snare,  and  they  could  not 
escape  ;  and  one  after  another  were  conveyed  to  the  sorrow- 
ful grave  of  the  drunkard.  Now  look  at  me  again.  You  prob- 
ably see  me  for  the  last  time.  My  sands  have  almost  run.  I 
have  dragged  my  exhausted  frame  from  my  present  home — 
your  poor-house- — to  warn  you  all ;  to  warn  you,  deacon  !  to 
warn  you,  false  teacher  of  God's  words  !'  And  with  her  arms 
flung  high,  and  her  tall  form  stretched  to  its  utmost,  and  her 
voice  raised  to  an  unearthly  pitch,  she  exclaimed,  '  I  shall  soon 
stand  before  the  judgment  seat  of  God.  I  shall  meet  you 
there,  you  false  guides,  and  be  a  witness  against  you  all !' 

"  The  miserable  woman  vanished.  A  dead  silence  pervaded 
the  assembly  ;  the  minister,  the  deacon,  and  physician  hung 
their  heads  ;  and  when  the  president  of  the  meeting  put  the 
question,  '  Shall  any  licenses  be  granted  for  the  sale  of  spirit- 
uous liquors  ?'  the  unanimous  response  was  *  No  !' " 

Again,  Mr.  Gough  says,  in  illustrating  the  danger  that  lurks 
in  the  seductions  of  liquor,  even  for  those  who,  we  would 
fancy,  are  the  best  fortified  against  it : 

"  A  minister  of  the  Gospel  writes  me  :  '  I  was  deposed  by 
my  church  for  drunkenness  ;  some  of  them  had  confidence  in 
me  and  they  gathered  together  and  formed  a  little  church, 
and  we  worshipped  in  a  hall  ;  I  preached  for  them  six  or  eight 
weeks  ;  I  then  came  down  to  Boston  to  buy  hyrnn-books  ;  I 
met  with  a  friend  who  asked  me  to  dine,  and  I  drank  a  glass 
of  wine,  and  for  three  days  I  knew  nothing,  and  now  I  am 
ruined  for  time,  and  I  fear  for  eternity.'  I  have  a  letter  from 
a  minister  of  the  Gospel  who  says  this  : 

" '  My  grandfather  died  of  delirium  tremens,  my  mother 
died  a  drunkard ;  I  have  inherited  an  appetite  for  liquor. 
When  I  went  into  the  ministry  I  sought  the  hardest  work  I 
could  get,  and  went  as  a  Home  Missionary  ;  I  am  now  broken 
down  ;  I  have  covered  my  whole  life  with  prayer  as  with  a 
garment  ;  I  have  spent  hundreds  of  dollars  at  water-cure  estab- 
lishments to  wash  this  devil  out  of 'me  ;  I  have  gone  without 
animal  food  for  two  years,  yet  I  tremble  every  day  on  the 
34* 


802  THE   LIFE   AND   WOEK   OF 

awful  verge  of  the  precipice  of  indulgence.'  Now  mark  me. 
I  don't  say  that  the  grace  of  God  cannot  take  away  every 
particle  of  that  appetite,  as  the  infinite  power  of  God  can  cure 
every  disease,  but  what  I  want  is  this  :  that  no  man  shall  go 
away  from  these  meetings  filled  with  the  new  sensation  that 
comes  to  a  changed  man  ;  when  the  battle  face  to  face,  comes, 
he  is  away  from  siich  influences  as  these,  and  says  :  '  I  have 
the  grace  of  God  in  my  heart ;  I  have  no  appetite  now.'  But 
let  one  of  these  men  who  have  been  drunkards  and  who  have 
abstained  for  ten  years,  take  one  glass,  and  see  if  he  hasn't 
got  the  appetite  there.  Like  the  slumbering  fh'e  of  a  volcano, 
that  one  glass  will  rise  into  fury,  drenching,  perhaps,  body  and 
soul  in  the  lava  of  drunkenness.  Now,  then,  if  I  have  any 
grace  in  my  heart — I  know  that  that  has  been  taught  in  this 
Tabernacle — if  I  have  any  grace  in  my  heart  it  prompts  me  to 
pray,  'Lead  me  not  into  temptation.'  I  have  His  word  for  it 
I  shall  never  be  tempted  more  than  I  am  able  to  bear,  for 
there  is  a  way  of  escape  for  me  from  every  temptation  ;  but  if 
I  have  suc'h  views  of  the  grace  of  God  that  will  induce  me  to 
say,  '  I  have  so  much  grace  that  I  can  now  walk  into  the  temp- 
tation, and  that  grace  will  save  me  from  falling,'  it  is  very 
doubtful  to  me  whether  such  a  man  has  the  true  idea  of  the 
grace  of  God.  Therefore,  I  say  to  reformed  men,  Christian 
men,  your  hope  is  in  Jesus  to  keep  yourselves  unspotted. 
Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not,  meddle  not  with  it." 

There  is  no  safety  except  in  total  abstinence,  and  even  then 
the  appetite  is  so  strong,  that  only  the  help  of  the  Almighty 
enables  the  struggling  victim  to  emancipate  himself.  Again 
let  us  quote  from  the  eloquent  temperance  orator  whom  we 
have  already  alluded  to  : 

"  Some  of  us  remember  when  we  fought  a  hard  battle  for 
temperance  ;  some  of  us  remember  the  riots  in  Faneuil  Hall, 
when  the  liquor  sellers  declared  that  we  should  not  occupy 
that  platform,  and  for  three  successive  nights  they  beat  us  off, 
put  their  own  chairman  in  the  meeting  ;  we  remember  very 
well  when  it  was  a  reproach  to  be  a  temperance  man,  and 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  80S 

temperance  men  were  persecuted.  Now  it  seems  as  if — I  was 
going  to  say  it  was  becoming  popular,  but  I  don't  like  that 
word  popular.  I  believe  the  principle  is  becoming  universal 
from  Maine  to  Louisiana,  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific 
slope,  and  it  is  because  it  was  begun  in  prayer,  and  it  will  end 
in  thanksgiving.  The  women  of  Pittsburgh  before  Christmas 
met  together  for  prayer ;  it  was  the  outcropping  of  the 
women's  crusade  movement  ;  that  phase  of  it  has  passed  away, 
but  the  foundation  of  the  movement  was  prayer,  and  they 
continued  praying  even  when  they  gave  up  the  saloon  visit- 
ing, and  what  is  the  consequence  ?  From  60,000  to  70,000  in 
Pittsburgh  and  Alleghany  city  alone,  the  past  three  months, 
have  signed  the  pledge  !  It  is  in  Cleveland,  in  Omaha,  in  all 
the  West,  away  down  in  Maine,  it  is  reaching  to  San  Fran- 
cisco, it  is  everywhere,  and  Christian  men  and  women  are 
being  raised  up  to  do  battle  against  this  fearful  enemy." 

It  is  true  the  temperance  wave  is  rolling  like  a  flood,  but 
the  strength  of  the  enemy  is  deep-seated,  with  almost  an  in- 
vincible hold  on  the  passions,  prejudices  and  appetites.  Its 
roots  and  fibres  run  all  through  the  social  system,  and  it  tias 
a  thousand  false  and  smiling  faces  with  which  to  deceive  the 
unwary.  How  many  great  men  have  fallen  under  its  insidious 
temptation!  The  brilliant  lights  in  literature,  art,  politics,  and 
law,  have  in  many  cases  been  snuffed  out  in  an  untimely  end 
by  their  weakness  for  this  most  dangerous  of  appetites.  What 
a  sigh  from  the  depths  of  his  dispair  is  breathed  out  by 
Charles  Lamb,  the  gentle  and  gifted  "  Elia,"  in  these  words  : 

"  The  waters  have  gone  over  me.  But  out  of  the  black 
depths,  could  I  be  heard,  I  would  cry  out  to  all  those  who 
have  but  set  foot  in  the  perilous  flood.  Could  the  youth,  to 
whom  the  flavor  of  his  first  wine  is  delicious  as  the  opening 
scenes  of  life,  or  the  entering  upon  some  newly  discovered 
paradise,  look  into  my  desolation,  and  be  made  to  understand 
what  a  dreary  thing  it  is  when  a  man  shall  feel  himself  going 
down  a  precipice  with  open  eyes  and  a  passive  will  ;  to  see  his 
destruction,  and  have  no  power  to  stop  it,  and  yet  to  feel  it  all 


804  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

the  way  emanating  from  himself  ;  to  perceive  all  goodness 
emptied  out  of  him,  and  yet  not  to  be  able  to  forget  a  time 
when  it  was  otherwise  ;  to  hear  about  the  piteous  spectacle  of 
his  own  self-ruin  ;  could  he  see  my  fevered  eye,  feverish  with 
last  night's"  drinking,  and  feverishly  looking  forward  for  this 
night's  repetition  of  the  folly  ;  could  he  feel  the  death,  out  of 
which  I  cry  hourly  with  feebler  outcry  to  be  delivered,  it 
were  enough  to  make  him  dash  the  sparkling  beverage  to  the 
earth  in  all  the  pride  of  its  mantling  temptation." 

To  the  false  teachings  in  times  past  of  medical  science  (so 
called)  is  the  difficulty  of  dealing  with  the  question  of  alcoholic 
stimulants  to  some  extent  due.  Physicians  have  blindly  ac- 
cepted sophisms  and  falsities,  and  taught  them  as  scientific 
truths.  Could  we  know  the  numbers  of  drunkards  of  both 
sexes  who  have  formed  the  fatal  appetite  in  consequence  of 
physicians'  prescriptions,  we  should  be  startled  at  another  in- 
stance of  the  devil  transforming  himself  into  an-  angel  of  light. 
But  the  change  of  opinion  among  the  better  class  of  physicians 
to-day  is  working  a  salutary  influence.  Let  us  offer  a  few  of 
the  testimonies  on  this  subject  : 

Dr.  Carson,  an  eminent  physician  of  Philadelphia,  writes 
these  wise  words  :  "The  profession  teaches  that  it  is  a  valuable 
remedy  for  disease/  The  graduate  passes  into  the  community, 
and  in  dysentery,  typhoid  and  typhus  fevers,  cholera,  and  in 
every  phase  of  real  or  apparent  weakness,  prescribes  it  for  his 
patient ;  thus  not  only  fostering  that  fierce  appetite  for  alcohol, 
which  ceases  only  with  death,  but  impressing  the  community 
with  the  belief  that  alcoholic  drinks  are  absolutely  essential  to 
the  preservation  of  health  and  the  cure  of  disease.  What  can 
moral  suasion  do  ?  What  can  the  Maine  law  effect  in  opposi- 
tion to  such  a  sentiment  among  the  masses  of  the  people, 
founded,  sustained  and  encouraged  by  the  medical  profession  ? 
Is  there  a  disease  of  the  heart,  the  head,  the  lungs,  the  liver 
or  the  kidneys,  that  has  not  been  produced  a  thousand  times 
by  alcoholic  drinks  ?  Is  there  a  single  one  of  these  diseases 
which  demands  their  use  as  a  remedy  ?  Alcoholic  stimulants 


FRANCIS    MURPHY.  805 

are  not  necessary  in  the  treatment  of  any  disease.  Think,  gen- 
tlemen, of  the  five  hundred  young  physicians  being  annually 
sent  from  this  city  (Philadelphia)  to  the  various  States  of  the 
Union  to  practice  their  profession,  placing  the  brandy  bottle  in 
tens  of  thousands  of  the  families  as  a  remedy  !  Who  can  cal- 
culate the  mischief  that  they  will  produce  ?  It  were  better  for 
mankind  that  they  had  never  been  born." 

In  the  Medical  Journal,  of  Boston,  Dr.  Fuller  thus  very 
pointedly  remarks  :  "  The  use  cannot  be  separated  from  the 
abuse,  either  as  a  beverage  or  as  a  medicine.  We  cannot  pre- 
vent the  use  of  alcohol  as  a  beverage  without  discarding  its 
use.  I  think  that  the  profession  cannot  but  perceive  that 
while  alcoholic  prescriptions  are  so  universal,  and  while  it  is 
recommended  as  a  domestic  medicine,  it  will  continue  to  be 
used  as  a  beverage,  and  its  lamentable  effects  will  follow." 

The  well-known  medical  writer,  and  founder  of  a  successful 
medical  college  in  New  York,  Dr.  Trail,  thus  reflects  :  "  The 
effects  of  intemperance  may  be  summed  up  in  a  few  wrords — 
vice,  crime,  pauperism,  social  corruption  and  national  decline  ; 
and  the  root  of  the  evil  is  alcoholic  medication.  It  is  true 
now,  as  it  has  ever  been,  that  just  to  the  extent  that  medical 
men  advise  and  prescribe  alcohol  as  a  medicine  will  the  people 
drink  it  as  a  beverage.  The  use  of  alcoholic  drinks  always 
did,  and  always  will,  follow  in  the  wake  of  alcoholic  medica- 
tion." 

The  Medical  Times,  of  New  York  city,  an  ably  managed 
and  influential  journal,  thus  appeals  to  the  good  sense  of  the 
medical  profession  :  "  The  alarming  extent  to  which  alcoholic 
stimulants  are  being  resorted  to  as  a  beverage,  by  the  public, 
should  attract  the  serious  consideration  of  physicians.  The 
opinion  is  becoming  prevalent  that  stimulus  is  beneficial. 
The  various  quacks  who  trump  their  '  bitters '  into  the  mar- 
ket, are  beginning  to  understand  this,  and  have  already  reaped 
a  golden  harvest  from  a  very  extensive  sale  of  their  nos- 
trums." 

"  On  one  occasion,"  said  Dr.  Blakeman,  in  narrating  the  in- 


806  THE   LIFE   AND    WORK   OF 

stance  ol:  a  young  lady,  before  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  "  in 
consequence  of  the  prescription  of  a  physician,  she  was  led 
into  habits  of  intemperance  to  such  an  extent  that  in  the 
course  of  eight  months  she  was  accustomed  to  take  two  and 
one-half  pints  of  brandy  daily.  She  died  a  drunkard." 

Professor  Benjamin  F.  Barker,  of  the  New  York  College  of 
Medicine,  said  :  "  I  have  known  several  ladies  to  become 
habitual  drunkards,  the  primary  cause  being  a  taste  for  stim- 
ulus, which  was  acquired  by  alcoholic  drinks  being  adminis- 
tered to  them  as  medicine." 

In  the  "  Materia  Medica,"  of  Dr.  Chapin,  the  following 
words  have  escaped  the  editor's  pen  :  "  It  is  the  sacred  duty 
of  everyone  exercising  the  profession  of  medicine,  to  unite 
with  the  moralist,  the  divine,  and  the  economist,  in  discourag- 
ing the  consumption  of  these  baneful  articles  ;  and,  as  the 
first  step  in  the  scheme  of  reformation,  to  discountenance  the 
baneful  notion  of  their  remedial  efficacy." 

Before  the  Academy  of  Medicine,  in  New  York,  Professor 
Post  instanced  the  case  of  a  patient — a  young  man — who  was 
hereditarily  predisposed  to  consumption  of  the  lungs.  Acting 
upon  the  advice  of  a  physician,  he  freely  took  to  the  use  of 
alcholic  stimulants,  became  an  inebriate,  and  died  of  delirium 
tremens.  In  this  we  have  the  peculiar  wisdom  of  a  class  of 
physicians  set  before  us.  Better  had  he  fallen  by  his  pul- 
monary affection,  a  thousand  fold. 

Dr.  Post  also  employed  these  words  :  "Even  as  a  medicine 
alcohol  is  '  a  mocker,'  and  all  the  bitters,  tonics,  etc.,  which 
men  use  who  would  scorn  to  enter  a  rum  shop,  are  disguised 
assassins  in  Satan's  service." 

Professor  Mussey  of  the  State  Medical  College  of  Ohio,  says  : 
"  I  deny  that  alcoholic  spirit  is  essential  to  the  practice  of 
either  physic  or  surgery.  So  long  as  it  retains  a  place  among 
sick  patients,  so  long  will  there  be  drunkards." 

The  venerable  Dr.  Porter,  of  Portland  City,  Maine,  after  an 
experience  of  sixty  years  in  his  profession,  declared  as  fol- 
lows :  "  I  exceedingly  regret  the  exception  (in  favor  of  ardent 


FRANCIS    MUEPHY.  807 

spirit  as  a  medicine)  in  the  constitutions  of  temperance  socie- 
ties." 

Professor  Emlen,  of  the  Philadelphia  Medical  College,  uttered 
these  words  :  "  All  the  use  of  ardent  spirits  is  an  abuse.  They 
are  mischevious  under  all  circumstances." 

Dr.  Johnson  curtly  said  of  alcohol  :  '•"  I  have  known  it  to  do 
much  harm,  and  never  any  good." 

These  and  a  thousand  other  strong  and  intelligent  wit- 
nesses, who  have  made  a  specialty  of  the  subject,  might  be 
adduced  to  prove  that,  to  use  the  forcible  language  of  Dr. 
Bostock,  "  Alcohol  is  a  blind  experiment  on  the  vitality  of  the 
patient  ;  and  supports  life  in  precisely  the  same  way  that  a 
wild  hyena  would,  if  let  loose  among  a  crowd." 

It  is  true  that  many  otherwise  excellent  physicians,  who 
themselves  do  not  use  alcohol,  prescribe  it  in  various  diseases. 
They  do  this  because  they  have  been  trained  to  do  it,  just  as 
they  were  once  trained  not  to  use  cold  water  or  allow  free 
ventilation  of  the  sick  room  in  many  ailments,  where  a  better 
science  teaches  them  to  be  absolutely  requisite.  The  opinions 
of  the  wisest  scientists  to-day  on  the  subject  of  alcohol  are 
that  it  aids  the  system,  just  as  a  goad  and  heavy  plow  give 
the  tired  ox  more  ease  and  rest.  The  system  frets  under  it, 
tries  to  throw  off  the  terrible  burden,  and  suffers  in  conse- 
quence, no  matter  how  slight  the  quantity  taken.  Any  of  the 
well-known  poisons  may  be  used  in  certain  forms  of  disease 
with  just  as  little  jeopardy  as  alcohol. 

So  the  intrenchments,  with  which  the  "  rum  "  power  has 
fortified  itself,  have  been  built  by  the  hand  of  a  pseudo- 
science,  as  well  as  by  the  appetites  and  lusts  of  the  ignorant  ; 
cemented  by  the  social  elegancies  of  life  as  well  as  by  the 
coarseness  and  crudity  of  the  lower  classes.  The  most  subtile 
agent  of  evil,  it  has  entwined  itself  through  every  branch  of 
the  social  system  from  highest  to  lowest. 

It  is  in  vain  to  tell  men  in  studied  phrase  that  they  are 
ruining  body  and  soul  by  the  practice  of  drinking  stimulants  ; 
to  prove  analytically  that  alcohol  is  a  poison,  has  all  the  effects 


808  THE  LIFE    AND   WORK  OF 

of  a  poison,  is  nothing  but  a  poison.  Where  habit  has  taken 
its  tyrant  hold  on  the  nature,  the  intellect  alone  is  slow  to  re- 
spond to  the  calls  made  on  it.  The  crust  of  custom  must  be 
broken  by  some  powerful  emotional  shock.  It  is  just  here 
that  the  grand  usefulness  and  value  of  such  a  man  as  Francis 
Murphy  come  to  the  fore,  and  stamp  themselves  in  an  undy- 
ing record  on  the  page  of  society. 

A  man  of  the  people,  who  himself  has  passed  through  the  de- 
grading and  brutal  experiences,  from  which  he  would  now  wean 
his  fellow-men,  he  appeals  to  the  masses  with  that  magnetism 
and  sympathy  which  sweep  everything  before  them.  Simple, 
earnest  and  uneducated,  his  words  come  straight  from  the 
heart,  and  go  straight  to  the  heart.  He  is  a  man  moulded  by 
nature  and  circumstance  for  the  peculiar  work  to  which  he  has 
dedicated  himself,  and  he  has  shown  a  deep  insight  into  the 
hearts  of  men  and  the  conditions  involved  in  moving  them  by 
the  very  novel  and  remarkable  methods  he  has  adopted.  The 
results  accomplished  by  such  men  as  Moody  the  evangelist, 
and  Francis  Murphy  the  temperance  revivalist  are  very  signifi- 
cant phenomena  ;  and  show  that  in  spite  of  the  materialism, 
the  cynical,  critical  intellectuality  which  have  been  imputed 
to  our  age,  the  popular  heart  is  as  much  to-day  a  sensitive  in- 
strument responsive  to  the  intense  earnestness  and  enthusiasm 
of  the  reformer  and  the  orator,  as  it  was  in  the  days  when 
Peter  the  Hermit  and  St.  Bernard  aroused  the  people  of 
Europe  to  wrest  the  Holy  Sepulchre  from  the  hand  of  the 
Saracen. 

A  summary  of  the  results  wrought  by  Murphy,  during  the 
last  four  or  five  years,  measuring  these  as  nearly  as  possible, 
would  indicate  that  over  a  million  of  people  have  been  in- 
duced, directly  or  indirectly,  to  sign  the  pledge  of  total  abstin- 
ence through  his  influence.  Some  statements  have  been  made 
doubling  or  even  trebling  this  amount.  But  there  is  always 
somewhat  of  exaggeration  in  the  enthusiasm  which  underlies 
the  admiration  of  mankind  for  a  great  work  of  this  nature. 
The  more  moderate  figure,  while  certainly  within  the  truth,  is 


FRANCIS    MUEPHY.  809 

a  result  so  great  as  to  place  the  Murphy  crusade  against  rum 
as  one  of  the  grandest  achievements  in  reform  during  the  last 
century.  Nothing  is  gained  by  exaggerating  that  which  is  in 
itself,  so  great.  Francis  Murphy  has  been  and  is  a  mighty 
torch,  flaming  with  enthusiastic  devotion  to  a  grand  cause, 
and  lighting  up  the  hearts  of  humanity  with  an  illumination, 
which  exposes  the  heights  and  depths,  the  infinite  misery,  suf- 
fering, and  wickedness  involved  in  the  love  of  stimulants. 
Others,  perhaps,  have  been  more  successful  in  organizing  re- 
sults, in  systematizing  feelings  once  kindled  into  a  permanent 
and  steady  glow  ;  in  surrounding  the  reformed  drunkard  with 
restraints  and  conditions  that  assist  him  in  fighting  the  battle, 
which  has  only  commenced  when  he  signs  the  pledge  of  total 
abstinence,  through  to  a  final  victory  over  the  love  of  drinking. 
But  to  every  man  is  given  his  special  power  and  function. 
"  Paul  may  plant  and  Apollos  may  water,  but  God  alone 
giveth  the  increase."  And  it  is  by  the  power  of  God  that 
these  men  work  so  successfully.  If  a  praying,  earnest  Christian 
heart  were  not  at  the  foundation  of  their  efforts,  if  they  did 
not  draw  their  inspiration  from  a  profound  conviction  that 
they  were  instruments  in  the  hands  of  a  Higher  Power,  we 
should  look  in  vain  for  the  wonderful  achievements  they  have 
wrought. 

"  God  bless  Francis  Murphy !"  is  the  sincere  cry  of  thou- 
sands and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  and  women.  That 
he  may  long  live  to  continue  his  mighty  work,  and  advance 
the  cause  of  which  he  is  so  splendid  an  exponent,  is  the  prayer 
of  every  one  that  loves  humanity,  and  looks  forward  to  that 
regeneration  of  society,  so  beautifully  pictured  in  the  Biblical 
fisnire  of  the  millenium. 


THE 

LIFE    AND    WORK 


OF 


DR.  HENRY  A.  REYNOLDS 


THE 


TEMPERANCE    REFORMER. 


\ 


DR.    HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS. 


THE 
LIFE     AND     WORK 

DR.    HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS, 


CHAPTER   IX. 

THE     EARLY     CAREER    OF   A    REMARKABLE    MAN. THE    OCCASION 

OF     HIS     REFORM   AND    CONVERSION. FIRST     ORGANIZATION 

OF      REFORM     CLUBS. — WORK    IN     MAINE     AND      MASSACHU- 
SETTS. 

No  history  of  the  recent  temperance  movements  in  the 
United  States  would  have  any  completeness  without  doing 
justice  to  the  splendid  results  attained  under  the  leadership  of 
Dr.  Henry  A.  Reynolds.  This  laborer  in  the  reform  vineyard 
is  not  so  universally  known  in  the  Eastern  states,  though 
Maine  and  Massachusetts  were  the  early  field  of  his  labors. 
His  most  remarkable  work,  that  which  has  given  him  a 
national  reputation,  has  been  in  Michigan  and  Illinois.  His 
efforts  in  detail,  owing  to  his  methods,  have  not  in  them  that 
popular  and  picturesque  interest  which  attaches  to  the 
Murphy  movement.  But  a  study  of  the  Reynolds  work  ex- 
poses matters  of  interest  to  the  more  thoughtful  student  of 
social  phenomena,  not  less  than  that  of  his  more  eloquent 
and  magnetic  compeer,  and  stands  equally  on  its  own  basis  as 
an  astonishing  fact.  Like  all  the  men  who  have  accomplished 

[813] 


814  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK  OF 

great  things,  Reynolds  passed  through  a  terrible  personal  ex- 
perience, for  the  roots  of  strength  are  nurtured  in  suffering. 
His  power  was  born  of  his  own  wretchedness  and  misery  iu 
those  days,  when  he  was  a  slave  to  the  fearful  love  of  alcohol, 
and  a  constant  sufferer  from  its  effects. 

In  spite  of  all  the  extraordinary  factors  that  have  moved  in 
it,  the  history  of  temperance  reform  has  no  feature  more  im- 
portant, or  more  interesting,  than  that  which  bears  the  soul- 
stirring  and  appropriate  watchword — "  Dare  to  do  right  !" 
The  thousands  upon  thousands  that  have  enlisted  themselves 
in  the  mighty  lists  that  carry  this  banner,  and  proudly  wear 
the  red-ribbon  badge,  are  bent  upon  one  aim,  a  fight  against 
intemperance  and  in  favor  of  total  abstinence.  The  success 
these  people  have  achieved  is  very  great,  and  by  their  means, 
temperance  reform  has  been  made  firmer,  surer  and  more 
certain. 

In  places  where  but  a  few  years  ago  temperance  move- 
ments were  never  thought  of,  the  entire  community  has  be- 
come a  branch  of  the  reform,  and  has  turned  out  zealous 
workers  in  the  noble  cause. 

The  reform  clubs  were  inaugurated  by  men  who  were  ad- 
dicted to  intoxicating  liquors  for  many  years.  These  men, 
aroused  to  their  condition,  the  fearful  risks  they  ran,  and  the 
awful  fate  that  awaited  them,  saw  the  necessity  of  a  change 
and  a  decided  reformation.  They  placed  themselves  in  the 
care  of  God,  and  besought  His  merciful  protection  and  guid- 
ance. Earnest  supplication  is  heard  and  answered  by  Provi- 
dence. In  God  this  movement  finds  its  best  and  truest  advo- 
cate ;  in  prayer,  its  greatest  help  and  stronghold.  In  this 
instance  it  and  the  woman's  crusade  are  alike.  This  depend- 
ence upon  Divine  assistance  helps  those  who  are  too  weak  to 
control  their  appetite,  and  they  go  readily  to  Him  for  the 
strength  and  power,  by  which  alone  they  can  be  saved  and 
preserved. 

Mr.  J.  K.  Osgood,  of  Gardiner,  Maine,  started  a  movement 
among  drinking  men  of  his  native  town  in  January,  1872. 


HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  815 

He  himself  was  a  reformed  man.  He  belonged  to  a  family 
of  high  social  standing,  but  fifteen  years  of  incessant  indul- 
gence in  intoxicants  brought  him  as  low  as  any  man  ever  fell. 
The  year  previous  to  his  reformation  found  him  out  of  busi- 
ness, friendless  and  entirely  moneyless.  His  description  of 
that  time  and  what  followed  is  highly  interesting  and  very 
pathetic.  It  appears  that  on  his  return  home  late  one  evening 
he  saw,  through  the  window  of  his  house,  his  wife  waiting  for 
him,  as  was  her  wont.  Her  patience  and  devotion,  as  well  as 
her  pitiable  condition,  went  right  to  his  heart,  and  made  him 
feel  so  very  badly  that  then  and  there  he  made  up  his  mind  to 
abstain  forever,  God  helping  him. 

This  noble  resolve  he  was  able  to  keep,  earnest  and  devout 
prayer  sustaining  him  in  it  ;  and  some  months  later  he  entered 
public  life  as  a  temperance  reformer.  He  was  led  to  this  step 
by  the  reformation,  through  his  means,  of  an  old  friend,  an 
attorney-at-law,  who  had  been  addicted  to  the  use  of  liquors 
fully  as  long  as  himself. 

Mr.  Osgood  drew  up  the  following  call  for  a  meeting, 
signed  by  his  friend,  and  had  it  inserted  in  the  newspapers  : 

"REFORMERS'  MEETING. — There  will  be  a  meeting  of 
reformed  drinkers  at  City  Hall,  Gardiner,  Friday  evening, 
January  19,  at  seven  o'clock. 

"  A  cordial  invitation  is  extended  to  all  occasional  drinkers, 
constant  drinkers,  hard  drinkers,  and  young  men  who  are 
tempted  to  drink,  to -come  and  hear  what  rum  has  done  for  us." 

The  hall  was  crowded  by  curious  people.  Mr.  Osgood  and 
his  friend  spoke  with  great  power  and  eloquence,  born  of  suffer- 
ing arid  deliverance,  and  impressed  the  crowd  in  no  slight 
manner.  This  initial  meeting  was  very  successful,  and  consid- 
erable enthusiasm  was  aroused  in  the  people. 

The  result  was  the  immediate  organization  of  the  "  Gardiner 
Temperance  Reform  Club."  In  a  very  short  space  of  time  the 
club  numbered  one  hundred  men,  all  of  whom  had  been, 
more  or  less,  habitual  drunkards. 

The  great  success  of  the  movement  and  the  excitement  and 


816  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

enthusiasm  of  the  people  travelled  all  over  the  country,  and 
in  a  few  months  reform  clubs  had  sprung  up  here,  there,  and 
everywhere,  their  membership  numbering  thousands. 

From  Maine  Mr.  Osgood  went  to  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  here  did  noble  work  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Massachusetts  Temperance  Alliance.  Fully  forty  clubs  were 
organized  in  this  State  alone. 

At  the  head  of  the  mighty  army,  wearing  the  red  ribbon, 
stands  the  man  that  everyone  loves  and  honors — Dr.  Henry 
A.  Reynolds. 

It  is  beyond  dispute  that  often  when  the  shadows  are  dark- 
est, and  when  the  despairing  heart  well-nigh  breaks  with  in- 
tense grief  and  long  suffering,  and  it  seems  utterly  useless  to 
live  another  day,  light  comes  to  us — making  all  things  bright 
and  full  of  hope  again.  Well  has  that  sweet  singer  said  : 

"Grim  clouds  precede  the  brightest  morn; 
The  darkest  hour's  before  the  dawn." 

We  are  apt  to  succumb  to  what,  to  us,  has  the  stern  bearing 
of  fatality,  and  weakly  bowing  under  it,  let  loose  our  hold  on 
life,  and  float  down  the  swift  current.  A  way  is  sometimes 
then  pointed  out  to  us,  which  we  unhesitatingly  follow  ;  for 
we  know  He  has  marked  it  out  with  an  especial  meaning,  and 
we  are  bound  to  follow.  We  take  our  cross  and  gladly  bear 
the  burden,  no  matter  how  heavy  it  may  be. 

Henry  A.  Reynolds  had  stood  in  dark  shadow  for  many 
years.  Not  many  men  have  gone  through  as  much  degrada- 
tion and  adversity  as  he  ;  and  not  many  have  had  such  an  ex- 
perience as  that  which  now  crowns  him,  and  makes  him  a 
beacon  light  to  thousands  upon  thousands  of  men  coiled  in  the 
folds  of  that  vicious  and  terrible  evil  we  call  alcohol.  It  was 
quite  early  in  life  that  the  desire  for  intoxicating  drink  took 
possession  of  him,  and  it  is  only  of  late  years  that  he  has  been 
successful  in  destroying  it. 

This  awful  appetite  grew  with  his  growth,  and  eventually 
brought  him  to  the  brink  of  a  frightful  abyss  which  yawned 


HENKY    A.    KEYNOLDS.  817 

before  him,  and  threatened  his  life.  He  was  born  in  Bangor, 
Maine,  in  the  year  1839.  He  entered  the  Medical  College  of 
Harvard  University,  and  was  there  well  known  and  respected 
for  his  studious  application,  his  tine  natural  abilities,  and  the 
remarkable  ease  with  which  he  mastered  every  branch  of  edu- 
cation he  undertook.  He  graduated  with  high  honors,  and 
left  the  classic  walls  of  old  Harvard  with  many  wishes  and 
wise  predictions  relative  to  his  future  success. 

His  life  was  cast  in  circles  where  the  use  of  wines  and 
liquors  was  regarded  as  a  matter  of  course.  He  was  entirely 
left  to  the  influences  of  fashionable  life  ;  and,  like  so  many 
young  men  of  talent  and  promise  in  the  same  circumstances, 
he  began  to  dissipate.  A  strong  desire  for  drink  took  posses- 
sion of  him,  and  giving  way  to  it  he  sank  lower  and  lower  in 
the  social  scale. 

The  late  war  broke  out,  and  following  the  bent  of  an  ardent 
inclination,  he  enlisted  in  the  Union  army  as  assistant  surgeon 
in  the  First  Maine  Regiment  of  Heavy  Artillery.  He  served 
during  the  last  two  years  of  the  war,  and  at  the  close  of  the 
long  struggle  he  returned  home  honorably  discharged,  and 
entered  upon  the  professional  practice  of  a  physician  in  his 
native  city.  He  commenced  very  successfully  ;  but  the  grow- 
ing habit  of  intemperance  increased  with  him  to  such  an  ex- 
tent that  his  practice  was  seriously  injured.  "  Dr.  Reynolds' 
practice,"  one  of  the  leading  physicians  of  Bangor  says,  "  if 
attended  to,  would  have  been  worth  at  least  five  thousand 
dollars  a  year."  For  a  time  he  occupied  the  high  position  of 
city  physician.  His  downward  course  was  rapid,  and  he  soon 
became  a  slave  to  his  awful  appetite.  In  telling  the  story  of 
his  life,  the  doctor  says  : 

"  I  am  one  of  the  unfortunate  men  who  inherited  an  appetite 
for  strong  drink.  I  love  liquor  as  well  as  a  baby  loves  milk. 
When  I  was  but  a  child  of  less  than  eight  years  of  age  I 
began  to  strengthen  that  appetite  first  by  drinking  cider. 
Cider  I  call  the  devil's  kindling-wood.  Next  I  used  to  drink 
native  wines,  then  ale  and  lager  bier,  and  the  stronger  drinks. 


818  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK  OP 

I  drank  at  parties,  weddings,  dances,  etc. ;  I  had  liquors  on  my 
table  while  keeping  house,  and  treated  all  friends  who  called 
on  me  in  my  office  or  at  home,  for  this  I  thought  necessary  to 
their  'proper  entertainment:  I  have  really  been  a  drinking 
man,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  for  twenty  years,  the  last  six 
of  these  years  to  a  greater  rather  than  a  less  extent.  I  was  a 
periodical  drinker  from  necessity,  as  I  could  not  drink  all  the 
time  ;  but  a  periodical  drunk  with  me  usually  lasted  six  weeks. 
I  have  had  the  delirium  tremens,  and  suffered  the  torments  of 
the  lost  ;  but,  for  all  that,  I  brought  myself  to  the  verge  of 
the  same  suffering  a  hundred  times  afterward,  knowing  that 
I  could  not,  in  all  probability,  live  through  another  attack.  I 
was  a  slave  to  my  appetite,  and  actually  did  not  know  how  to 
rid  myself  of  it. 

"I  am  compelled  to  give  the  same  painful  testimony  that  so 
many  do,  that  no  one  asked  me  to  turn  over  a  new  leaf,  or 
said  an  encouraging  word  to  me  in  the  way  of  urging  me  to 
try  and  live  a  sober  life.  Had  some  kind  friend  shown  me 
the  way  out  of  it,  and  whispered  in  my  ear  that  I  could  be  a 
better  man,  I  might  have  been  so.  I  attribute  my  salvation 
from  a  drunkard's  grave  to  the  Woman's  Temperance  Crusade  ; 
or,  rather,  I  consider  myself  as  a  brand  plucked  from  the 
burning  through  the  prayers  of  the  Christian  women  of 
America." 

Dr.  Reynolds,  finding  himself  on  the  verge  of  delirium  tre- 
mens, sought,  as  a  last  resort,  help  from"  God  in  overcoming 
his  strong  appetite  for  alcoholic  drinks. 

He  knelt  in  his  office  and  yielded  himself  to  God  as  His 
servant,  and  swore  a  solemn  and  sacred  oath  that  he  would 
sign  the  pledge  publicly  as  soon  as  a  fitting  opportunity 
offered  itself.  Only  two  days  later  the  opportunity  came. 
The  women's  crusade  of  Bangor  was  conducting  a  public 
meeting  in  the  City  Hall,  and  he  went  in  to  observe  it. 

The  large  audience  was  much  amazed  to  see  him  come  in, 
for  he  was  notorious  for  his  intemperate  habits.  The  people 
were  more  amazed  when  he  pressed  his  way  through  the  mass, 


HEISTKY    A.    REYNOLDS.  819 

and  reached  the  pledge-table,  where  he  deliberately  signed  his 
name.  For  a  little  while  the  place  was  very  still,  and  then 
such  a  shout  went  up  !  Then  many  came  forward,  shook  his 
hand  warmly,  and  most  heartily  congratulated  him  on  what 
he  had  done.  It  was  hard  to  believe  he  would  be  able  to 
keep  the  pledge  ;  but  he  did.  He  entered  heartily  into  the 
work,  and  began  to  induce  others  to  follow  his  example. 

He  talked  to  his  acquaintances,  and  spoke  at  the  temperance 
meetings,  where  he  had  become  a  regular  attendant.  In  his 
speeches  he  eloquently  pointed  out  the  many  dire  consequences 
intoxicating  drink  brought  to  its  victims,  persuaded  them  to 
sign  the  pledge,  and  in  other  ways  sought  to  draw  his  unfor- 
tunate and  suffering  brothers  into  the  new  and  good  life  upon 
which  he  had  entered.  His  work  was  so  acceptable,  so  suc- 
cessful, that  he  received  numerous  invitations  to  visit  other 
places,  and  address  the  people  upon  the  subject  of  total  absti- 
nence. He  labored  earnestly,  and  grew  more  and  more  at- 
tached to  the  glorious  cause  day  after  day. 

However,  it  soon  became  evident  to  him  that  to  insure  suc- 
cess and  permanency  there  must  be  an  organization,  and  he 
conceived  the  plan,  under  God,  of  organizing  a  Reform  Club 
made  up  wholly  of  men  who  had  drunk  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  believing  then,  as  now,  that  there  exists  "  between  two 
drinking  mefl,"  to  quote  his  own  words  "  that  sympathy  which 
cannot  exist  between  a  man  who  has  and  one  who  has  not 
drunk."  He  published  notices  in  the  different  daily  news- 
papers cordially  inviting  all  drinking  men  to  meet  at  a  certain 
time  and  place.  Eleven  came  forward  at  the  call,  and  the  Ban- 
gor  Reform  Club,  the  very  first  of  the  kind,  was  organized  Sep- 
tember 10,  1874,  adopting  as  its  motto  "  Dare  to  do  right." 
Henry  A.  Reynolds  was  unanimously  elected  president  of  it. 
Other  meetings  were  held  ;  meanwhile,  the  members,  with 
true  missionary  zeal,  did  their  utmost  to  bring  in  new  members, 
and  in  the  course  of  a  few  weeks  the  club  numbered  hundreds; 
the  city  was  shaken  and  aroused  for  God  and  humanity  as 
never  before.  The  success  of  this  movement  went  all  over  the 


820  THE  LIFE  AND  WOEK  OF 

country  like  a  flash,  and  created  great  surprise  and  much  inter- 
est. Many  cordial  invitations  to  inaugurate  a  similar  work 
came  from  all  quarters  and  were  accepted  by  Dr.  Reynolds 
and  his  earnest  fellow-laborers  with  zeal  and  enthusiam.  In 
one  year  Reform  Clubs  of  this  kind  were  organized  through- 
out the  entire  State  of  Maine.  The  people  entered  into  the 
movement  eagerly,  and  embraced  it  heartily  and  warmly,  and 
Dr.  Reynolds  was  received  everywhere  with  great  enthusiam. 

The  work  in  Maine  was  very  successful.  In  three  years  the 
number  of  reformed  men  was  given  in  as  forty-six  thousand. 

The  origin  of  the  red  ribbon  took  place  some  months  after 
the  doctor's  conversion.  He  had  called  a  convention  of  re- 
formed men  to  meet  in  Bangor,  Maine,  and  while  he  was 
seated  in  his  office,  the  day  of  the  meeting,  September  10, 
1874,  he  fancied  that  it  would  be  a  good  idea  if  the  men  had 
some  sign  or  badge  by  which  they  might  recognize  each  other. 

He  thought  for  a  long  time,  and  finally  sent  his  office-boy 
across  the  street  to  a  dry-goods  store  for  several  yards  of  red 
ribbon.  Having  obtained  this  the  doctor  cut  it  up  into  six- 
inch  lengths,  tied  one  in  the  lapel  of  his  coat,  and  did  like- 
wise by  all  of  the  delegates. 

Another  convention  was  held  in  June  of  the  following  year, 
at  which  these  men  wore  the  red  ribbon  in  memory  of  the 
other  meeting.  Before  Dr.  Reynolds  started  out  on  his 
Massachusetts  campaign  he  made  the  red  ribbon  a  badge  of 
membership  of  the  Reform  Club.  The  ribbon  played  by  far 
a  more  important  part  in  the  State  of  Michigan  than  in  those 
of  Massachusetts  and  Maine.  In  this  State  it  became  almost  a 
sacred  thing.  To  the  reformed  men  who  wore  it,  it  was  a 
solemn  reminder  of  their  promise  of  life-long  abstinence  from 
intoxicating  liquors.  The  wearer  of  it  is  respected  and  ad- 
mired, and  it  is  said  that  "  in  some  of  the  Michigan  saloons,  if 
a  man  wearing  the  red  ribbon  should  come  in  and  order  a 
glass  of  liquor,  he  would  be  refused."  At  Jackson,  an  instance 
of  this  kind  lately  occurred,  as  follows: 

"  A  reformed  man  with  a  red  ribbon  in  his  button-hole  was 


HENEY    A.    REYNOLDS.  821 

overcome  by  his  appetite  for  strong  drink,  went  into  a  saloon, 
and  called  for  liquor.  'No,' said  the  saloon-keeper,  who  had 
known  the  man  as  a  miserable  drunkard  for  many  years,  'I 
will  not  give  you  anything  to  drink.  A  man  who  has  been 
damaged  by  liquor  as  much  as  you  have  been,  and  who  has 
been  helped  by  letting  it  alone,  as  much  as  you  have,  ought  to 
know  better  than  to  touch  it  again.  Your  family  are  happy, 
too,  and  I  will  not  be  the  man  to  destroy  you  and  them.'" 

Perhaps  the  best  description  that  has  appeared  of  Dr. 
Reynolds,  is  that  given  by  Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry,  the  successful 
missionary  of  Rockford,  111.,  and  the  editor  of  that  clever 
sheet,  the  Rockford  Register.  It  is  as  follows: 

"  Dr.  Reynolds  is  a  man  all  by  himself.  He  continually 
provokes  the  inquiry  :  What  is  the  source  of  his  power?  In 
personal  appearance  the  doctor  is  rather  commanding,  meas- 
uring six  feet,  well  proportioned,  straight  as  an  arrow,  moves 
with  energy  and  grace.  His  complexion  is  a  little  of  the  florid 
order.  He  wears  a  sandy  moustache,  and  in  address  and  gen- 
eral appearance  he  is  a  gentleman.  He  makes  no  pretensions 
to  oratory.  Plis  woi'ds  are  few  ;  his  style  pleasing  and 
smooth.  He  never  lifts  his  voice  above  the  conversational 
tone  ;  never  makes  any  effort  to  play  on  the  emotions,  but 
deals  in  stern,  naked  truth,  using  his  own  experience,  and  that 
of  others  simply  as  illustrations.  His  appeals  are  to  the  com- 
mon sense  and  manhood  of  his  hearers,  and  to  their  moral 
feelings.  When  he  tells  of  his  life  he  uses  terms  that  a  half- 
drunken  man  would  understand.  He  says  'drunkard'  instead 
of  '  inebriate,' and  calls  himself  'a  reformed  drunkard.'  He 
seems  to  look  at  this  question  of  drunkenness  and  reformation 
from  the  stand-point  of  those  who  have  suffered  from  the  one, 
and  who  are  in  need  of  the  other  ;  and  the  first  thought  which 
seems  to  take  possession  of  the  unfortunate  men  who  hear 
him  is,  '  Well,  now,  he  was  such  a  man  as  I ;  may  be  I  could 
be  saved  if  I  try  the  same  way  he  did.  P'll  try? 

"  The  secret  of  his  success  is  the  absolute  absence  of  every- 
thing like  pretense,  and  in  the  inspiration  of  work  which  he 


822  THE   LIFE   AND    WORK   OF 

carries  with  him,  while  his  own  sole  reliance  is  upon  the  sup- 
port of  God.  '  Old  Business,'  he  is  frequently  called  ;  and 
the  thoroughness  of  his  methods  of  organization  warrants  the 
title. 

"  His  creed,  which  he  announces  whenever  there  is  occasion 
for  it,  is  this  :  '  I  believe  in  God  ;  I  believe  in  prayer  ;  I  be- 
lieve in  everything  between  the  two  lids  of  the  Bible,  whether 
I  understand  it  or  not  ;  and  I  believe  I  am  a  saved  man  to- 
day, through  the  instrumentality  of  the  prayers  and  work  of 
the  women  of  my  country.' 

"  With  respect  to  the  vai'ious  political  questions  arising  in 
temperance,  the  doctor  says  :  'Let  everything  else  alone. 
You  reformed  men  have  enough  business  on  your  hands  to 
take  care  of  yourselves,  without  being  made  cat's-paws  for 
politicians  to  pull  their  chestnuts  out  of  the  fire.' " 

Mrs.  Mary  G.  Ward,  President  of  the  Woman's  Temperance 
Union  of  Salem,  Massachusetts,  learned  of  the  wonderful 
work  of  reform  progressing  in  Maine,  under  the  very  success- 
ful leadership  of  Dr.  Reynolds,  and  while  at  the  old  Orchard 
Beach  Camp-meeting  in  1875  she  cordially  extended  an  invita- 
tion to  him  to  inaugurate  his  movement  in  Massachusetts. 

He  went  to  Salem,  and  made  his  first  appearance  in  March, 
1876.  A  full  account  of  his  labor  here,  as  given  by  himself  in 
a  report  1,0  the  Boston  Traveller,  is  as  follows  : 

"  A  few  months  ago  I  came  to  Salem  by  the  invitation  of 
the  Woman's  Christian  Union  for  the  first  time.  Then,  by 
their  aid,  and  through  their  prayers,  commenced  this  grand 
awakening,  whereby  thousands  of  homes  have  been  made 
happy,  and  thousands  of  men  have  been  turned  to  God.  Not 
me  is  due  the  praise,  but  to  our  Father  in  heaven,  who  has 
chosen  me  to  do  the  work. 

"  I  believe  that  women  do  more  for  fallen  men  than  men  will 
or  can  do  for  themselves  ;  and  I  thank  God  that  the  women  of 
the  United  States  had  commenced  their  crusade,  and  the 
wave  had  spread  eastwai'd  till  it  reached  my  home  in  Bangor. 

"  We  organized  a  little  club  of  eleven  reformed  drunkards  in 


HEKRY  A.    EEYNOLDS.  823 

Bangor,  for  the  purpose  of  encouraging  one  another  to  dare  to 
do  right ;  and  from  that  the  movement  spread.  Once  we 
went  to  St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick,  where  a  small  reform  club 
was  started.  It  proved  to  be  the  little  leaven  Avhich  leavened 
the  whole  lump,  for  this  club  of  a  few  has  become  a  club  of 
very  many,  and  its  influence  has  extended  through  the  British 
Provinces. 

"  The  reform  movement  seems  to  me  sometimes  like  the 
crusade  of  John  the  Baptist,  and  if  anything  can  be  found  to 
do  more  good  I  should  like  to  know  it.  I  am  in  sympathy 
with  all  kinds  of  temperance  movements  and  with  all  branches 
of  the  Church  of  God,  but  this  is  the  work  to  which  God  has 
called  me,  a  work  like  the  mission  of  our'  blessed  Saviour  him- 
self, to  go  out  into  the  highways  and  byways,  hedges  and 
ditches,  and  raise  up  the  fallen  ones. 

"  Two  years  ago  I  was  rescued  from  the  verge  of  a  drunk- 
ard's grave  by  the  Christian  women  of  Bangor.  I  joined  the 
Young  Men's  Crusade  Club.  It  was  composed  of  men  who 
had  led  a  sober  life,  of  those  who  had  been  moderate  drink- 
ers, and  of  those  who  had  been  common  drunkards.  The  re- 
sult was  continual  quarreling  and  strife.  The  organization 
died.  It  then  occurred  to  me  to  form  a  society  composed 
entirely  of  reformed  men.  There  is  a  bond  of  sympathy 
between  reformed  men  which  binds  them  together.  Such  a 
club  was  formed  in  Bangor  :  it  increased  to  an  unprecedented 
number.  I  then  resolved  henceforth  to  form  such  clubs, 
and  do  all  I  could  for  the  cause  of  temperance." 

He  worked  in  Massachusetts  about  thirteen  months,  during 
which  time  he  extended  his  field  to  Connecticut,  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Rhode  Island.  The  center  of  his  labor,  however, 
was  in  the  counties  of  Essex  and  Middlesex,  though  at  intervals 
he  found  his  way  into  the  interior  of  the  State. 

Gloucester  was  one  of  the  first  towns  he  visited.  The 
movement  here  was  so  signally  successful  that  a  list  of  twenty- 
two  vessels,  sailing  from  that  port,  was  published,  whose 
entire  crews  were  temperance  men,  and  most  of  them  raern- 


824  THE   LIFE  AND  WORK  OF 

bers  of  the  Reynolds  Reform  Club.  In  Salem,  a  club  of  two 
hundred  and  twenty-five  members  was  formed  ;  at  Marble- 
head,  one  of  two  hundred  ;  in  Lynn,  one  of  forty  ;  in  Pea- 
body,  one  of  eighty.  Place  after  place  was  carried  by  storm, 
and  in  a  very  short  space  of  time  there  were  fully  seventy 
red-ribbon,  or  reform  clubs,  in  this  State.  He  received  in 
Salem  a  complimentary  benefit  at  the  conclusion  of  his  labor, 
which  was  highly  gratifying  in  every  particular.  He  was 
received  in  every  place  with  grand  ovations,  and  received  ad- 
ulation enough  to  spoil  one  of  the  best  of  men  ;  but  there  was 
something  always  with  him  that  kept  him  away  from  all 
dangers,  and  led  him  onward.  This  all-powerful,  though  in- 
visible presence,  saved  him  from  such  a  peril.  He  walked 
along  his  life-path,  with  clear  eyes  steadily  and  hopefully 
gazing  heavenward.  He  who  had  been  a  curse  and  a  blot  on 
humanity  had  now  become  a  blessing.  He  who  had  been  as 
low  and  as  vile  as  man  could  be,  a  habitual  sot,  was  now 
clothed  with  a  light  that  set  the  unbelieving  world  wondering- 
Surely  he  was  one  of  the  appointed  of  the  Lord. 

In  speaking  of  the  temperance  movement  conducted  by  Dr. 
Reynolds,  the  Congregationalist,  of  Boston,  under  the  date  of 
March  29,  1876,  says: 

"  The  work  of  Dr.  H.  A.  Reynolds  is  little  short  of  a 
miracle.  For  example,  upon  Saturday,  March  25,  he  went  in 
a  furious  storm  to  the  town  of  Ashland,  by  a  night  train,  met 
a  hundred  men  at  the  town  hall,  and  talked  with  them  an 
hour  in  a  free,  conversational  way  ;  then  met  a  hundred  in 
the  same  place  on  Sunday  afternoon,  mostly  drinking  men. 
He  organized  a  reform  club  of  forty.  In  the  evening  he  ob- 
tained sixty  more  members  to  the  club,  and  left  town  Monday 
morning,  leaving  a  temperance  organization  which,  within  a 
few  weeks,  had  gathered  in  drinking  men  by  the  score.  This 
work  is  repeated  in  three  towns  and  cities  every  week,  and  in 
every  place  with  substantially  the  same  success.  Within 
eighteen  weeks  thirteen  thousand  reformed  men  have  been 
organized  by  Dr.  Reynolds  in  Eastern  Massachusetts. 


HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  825 

"  His  club  plan  is  such  that  the  men  hold  each  other  up. 
Eighty-five  per  cent,  of  the  thirty-four  thousand  reformed 
men  who  have  taken  the  pledge  within  nineteen  months  are 
holding  to  it  to  this  day. 

"  At  Waltham,  the  work  has  been  a  most  remarkable  one. 
On  Thursday  of  last  week,  on  his  return  to  that  town  again, 
Dr.  Reynolds  was  met  at  the  depot  by  an  array  of  three 
hundred  reformed  men,  and  escorted  through  the  principal 
streets,  to  the  vestry  of  the  Congregational  Church,  where  a 
collation  had  been  provided  by  the  ladies  of  the  Christian 
Union.  In  the  afternoon  and  evening  there  was  a  grand  mass 
meeting,  and  the  reform  already  accomplished  in  the  town 
corresponds  with  that  in  Gloucester  This  grand  temperance 
wave  is  already  reaching  the  men  in  the  towns  in  the  region 
of  Boston." 

Dr.  Reynolds  carried  that  great  manufacturing  city,  Lowell, 
completely  by  storm.  At  one  of  the  meetings  here  he  de- 
livered with  fine  effect  the  following  address: 

"I  am  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  and  received  a 
thorough  medical  education  ;  but  I  have  been  drunk  four 
times  a  day  in  my  office,  and  if  there  is  any  worse  hell  than  I 
have  suffered  I  don't  want  to  be  there.  No  nobler  class  of 
men  walk  the  earth  than  some  who  are  drinking  men.  They 
are  naturally  generous,  whole-souled,  genial,  jolly  ;  but  by 
intemperance  their  minds  become  diseased.  They  become 
scorned  and  degraded  outcasts  in  the  ditch,  kept  there  by 
thoughtless  people,  less  generous  and  honorable  by  nature  than 
themselves.  But  for  rum,  these  might  be  on  the  throne  instead 
of  in  the  gutter. 

"  Drunkards  are  not  all  fools,  as  some  people  believe  ;  but 
every  man  who  drinks  is  living  a  life  of  self-condemnation. 

"  I  never  insult  men  who  sell  liquor.  Some  men  can  sell  it 
conscientiously,  in  some  cases,  because  they  are  educated  to  it. 
At  Gloucester,  where  I  was  last  year,  two  rum-sellers  have 
left  the  business  and  signed  the  pledge.  The  only  difference 
between  the  respectable  rum-shop  and  the  low  groggery  is 


820  THE  LIFE  AND   WOEK  OF 

that  the  one  finishes  up  the  work  the  other  has  commenced. 
The  drunken  pauper  is  better  than  the  drunken  aristocrat. 

"My  sympathies  are  with  the  poor  men  in  this  temperance 
work,  and  I  wish  to  reach  as  many  of  them  as  possible  ;  and 
for  this  reason,  as  well  as  for  others,  I  wish  to  carry  on  this 
work  not  in  connection  with  aristocratic  churches,  but  in  non- 
sectarian,  non-political,  public  halls.  I  represent  no  organiza- 
tion, and  am  under  the  pay  of  none. 

"  At  Gloucester  the  interest  in  the  Reform  Club  last  week 
increased  until  this  morning  members  of  the  Temperance  Re- 
form Club  of  that  place,  numbering  three  hundred  and  fifty 
men,  marched  in  procession  to  the  depot  with  a  band  of  music 
to  escort  me. 

"  On  my  departure  thousands  assembled  at  the  depot,  and 
many  were  the  expressions  of  sympathy  and  friendship  I  re- 
ceived. The  wives  of  former  drunkards  were  there,  with 
their  little  children  in  their  arms,  to  bid  me  God-speed. 
When  the  train  moved  off  the  band  played  'Auld  Lang 
Syne,'  and  there  was  singing  and  cheering  by  the  crowd. 
Now,  that  don't  vset  me  up.  I  want  to  create  the  same  in- 
terest here  as  at  Gloucester,  and  hope  to  have  the  united 
assistance  of  all  who  claim  to  be  good  people. 

"  If  there  are  any  drinking  men  here  to-night,  I  want  them 
to  commence  now  to  dare  to  do  right.  It  is  easier  to  stop 
drinking  now  than  it  will  be  three  weeks  from  now.  Sending 
a  drinking  man  to  jail  will  not  make  him  sober.  When  he 
comes  out  the  first  thing  he  will  do  will  be  to  take  a  drink,  if 
he  can  get  it.  But  of  those  who  take  this  pledge  eighty-five 
per  cent,  have  thus  far  kept  it." 

Major  Emery,  of  Lowell,  came  forward  at  the  close  of  the 
meeting,  and  indorsed  the  doctor's  remarks,  and  the  result 
was  a  reform  club  of  fifteen  hundred  members. 

The  movement  in  Lowell  and  Gloucester  was  so  remarkable 
that  Dr.  Reynolds  was  especially  invited  by  the  Boston  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Preachers'  Meeting  to  appear  before  them,  and 
give  some  account  of  his  work  in  the  State.  This  very  large 


HENKY    A.    REYNOLDS.  827 

and  influential  body  welcomed  him  most  cordially.  The  Rev. 
Frank  Wagner,  pastor  of  the  leading  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  of  Lowell,  the  Rev.  Albert  Gould,  of  Gloucester,  and 
others  who  had  been  co-workers  with  the  doctor,  gave  testi- 
mony of  its  great  and  wonderful  power. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Gould  told  of  the  movement  in  his  own  city, 
Gloucester,  in  the  following  manner,  at  one  of  the  reform 
meetings  in  Lowell :  "  The  liquor  traffic  in  Gloucester  was 
fearful  beyond  description.  The  ministers  of  the  city  first 
consulted  together,  and  decided  on  a  series  of  meetings. 
After  a  few  meetings  had  been  held,  Dr.  Reynolds'  success  at 
Salem  induced  me  to  secure  his  services.  The  work  opened 
there  with  smaller  audiences  than  it  had  in  Lowell  ;  but  the 
interest  so  increased  that  the  City  Hall  was  engaged  for  the 
meetings,  and  it  was  crowded  "with  vast  audiences  for  four 
nights.  The  Reform  Club  first  organized  consisted  of  six- 
teen ;  it  now  numbers  five  hundred  and  twenty-nine,  nearly 
all  reformed  men,  who  five  weeks  ago  were  drunkards,  some 
of  them  gutter  drunkards.  The  liquor  traffic  is  almost  stopped. 
One  dealer  has  hung  crape  on  the  door  of  his  saloon.  The 
business  men  of  the  city  stand  behind  the  movement  with 
their  money  ;  and  the  red  ribbons,  worn  as  the  badge  of  the 
club,  are  immensely  popular.  The  best  feature  of  the  work  is 
its  religious  element.  The  pledge  signed  recognizes  God  as 
a  helper,  and  the  reformed  men  believe  that  they  need  His 
help.  No  man  in  Gloucester  is  so  popular  to-day  as  Dr. 
Reynolds." 

The  Stoneham  Club,  which  at  the  beginning  had  about 
thirty-three  members,  sprang  up  to  a  membership  of  two 
hundred  and  five  in  a  limited  period.  "  One  of  the  pleasantest 
peculiarities  of  this  club,"  says  a  good  authority ;  "  is  its 
liberal  provision  in  money  for  the  expense  of  the  club  and  its 
missionary  work." 

Early  in  the  month  of  April,  1876,  a  club  was  organized  at 
Lawrence.  Naturally  the  liquor  interest  had  a  very  strong 
hold  here,  it  being  one  of  the  great  manufacturing  places  of 


828  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

the  State.  One  of  the  ministers  of  the  place  told  Dr.  Reynolds 
when  he  came  here  that  "  he  was  coming  into  the  jaws  of 
hell."  The  brave  doctor  was  ready  to  come.  He  said  :  "I 
have  declared  my  purpose  t"b  be  to  save  men  of  whatever  race, 
color,  sect  or  party.  I  have  nothing  to  do  with  men's  opinions 
or  prejudices.  Lawrence  is,  doubtless,  a  cold  place  to  begin, 
but  by  proper  work  great  good  will  be  done  here." 

The  simplicity  and  good  common  sense  of  the  doctor's 
methods  gave  him  considerable  favor  here.  The  result  of  his 
work  was  a  Reform  Club  of  fully  three  thousand  members. 
The  following  episode  occurred  at  Lawrence,  and  produced 
great  good  :  "At  one  of  the  meetings  a  youth,  scarcely  fifteen 
years  of  age,  was  introduced,  who  had  been  a  drunkard.  This 
lad  was  too  young  to  be  a  member  of  the  Reform  Club,  but 
the  boys  took  hold  of  the  work,  and  organized  a  Reform 
Club  of  their  own."  No  other  proof  of  the  earnestness  and 
interest  in  the  movement  manifested  by  the  women  of  the  city 
is  required  than  the  following  fact  :  "Nineteen  hundred  of 
the  leading  ladies  of  the  city  signed  a  petition  to  the  local 
authorities  against  the  granting  of  licenses  to  sell  liquor." 

A  State  convention  of  the  Reform  Clubs  was  called  to  meet 
at  Lurline  Hall  in  Boston,  on  May  12,  1876.  The  object 
of  this  meeting  was  to  give  greater  unity  and  efficiency 
to  the  work  going  on  throughout  the  State.  Dr.  Reynolds  re- 
marked in  his  opening  speech  that : 

"  This  meeting  is  to  be  called  in  the  interest  of  no  faction, 
no  party,  and  of  no  individual,  but  for  the  good  of  our  un- 
fortunate brothers.  We  have  no  ax  to  grind,  but  we  meet  to 
talk  of  mutual  interest.  The  season  has  arrived  when  it 
will  be  necessary  for  us  to  put  forth  our  united  efforts  to  keep 
up  the  interest  in  the  movement  for  the  next  three  months  ; 
after  that  the  child  will  be  able  to  stand  alone." 

Encouraging  reports  were  handed  in  by  the  delegates  from 
all  points,  which  clearly  indicated  a  great  and  successful  work 
everywhere.  No  little  talk  was  occasioned  by  the  determin- 
ation on  the  doctor's  side  to  keep  his  clubs  free  of  all  political 


HEJSTRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  829 

questions  ;  and  in  this  laudable  effort  he  was  seconded  by  the 
very  best  people  of  Massachusetts. 

Speaking  of  this  the  Springfield  Republican,  always  a  most 
reliable  and  excellent  authority  on  State  topics,  says  : — 

"  The  decision  of  the  Reform  Clubs  not  to  mix  teetotalism 
with  politics  is,  probably,  a  settler  for  the  prohibitory  party  in 
this  State,  at  least  as  far  as  this  year's  canvass  is  concerned. 
These  clubs  are  by  far  the  most  vital  temperance  associations 
going  at  present.  They  have  the  dew  of  their  youth  yet  on 
them,  believe  in  themselves  and  their  work,  and  the  prohibi- 
tory party,  with  these  clubs  standing  aloof,  is  the  merest 
shadow  of  a  shade  that  ever  flitted  across  politics.  Some  fifty 
of  them  were  represented  at  the  Lurline  Hall,  in  Boston,  day 
before  yesterday.  The  number  of  delegates  elected,  including 
self -elected  ones,  is  variously  stated  at  from  two  hundred 
to  four  hundred.  The  meeting  became  turbulent,  got  beyond 
the  control  of  the  chairman,  and  stayed  there.  There  was  a 
minority  element  which  had  no  sympathy  with  the  purposes  of 
the  gathering,  and  no  notion  of  being  suppressed.  They  vig- 
orously contended  that  it  was  the  duty  of  temperance  men  to 
vote  as  they  prayed,  while  Brothers  Ford,  of  Boston,  Knight, 
of  Cambridge,  and  Scott,  of  Lowell,  were  the  principal  spokes- 
men in  the  steer-clear-of-politics  party.  Personalities  were 
exchanged  in  anything  but  a  temperate  manner,  and  a  large 
number  of  delegates  left  the  hall  in  disgust ;  but  enough  stayed 
to  pass  the  resolution  declaring,  '  That  we  emphatically  con- 
demn the  introduction,  discussion,  or  agitation  of  politics  in  our 
meetings.' 

"  We  make  our  compliments  to  the  Reform  Clubs  on  their 
good  sense." 

A  proposition  was  made  to  hold  a  State  convention  on  the 
eve  of  the  presidential  election,  at  Fitchburgh,  where  the  red- 
ribbon  movement  had  met  with  considerable  success,  which 
resulted  in  seventeen  hundred  names  being  signed  to  the 
pledge,  and  the  forming  of  a  Reform  Club  of  over  a  hundred 
members.  September  20  was  set  aside  for  the  meeting  of 


830  THE  LIFE   AND    WORK   OF 

this  political  convention ;  Dr.  Reynolds,  however,  having 
been  consulted  upon  it,  wrote  as  follows  :  "Put  me  down 
squarely  against  that  Fitchburgh  convention,  or  any  other 
method  by  which  it  is  proposed  to  divert  the  Reform  Clubs 
from  their  legitimate  purpose  of  saving  men,  or  cause  them  to 
become  the  tools  of  politicians.  Reformed  men  have  enough 
to  do  to  take  care  of  their  own  business." 

The  convention  was  held,  notwithstanding  this  decided 
move  against  it  on  the  doctor's  part ;  but  few  red-ribbon 
clubs  were  there.  The  political  brethren,  wisely  seeing  what 
trouble  was  in  store  for  them,  should  they  pursue  their  course, 
and  paying  some  attention  to  the  perfect  storm  of  indigna- 
tion excited  all  over  the  State,  followed  a  policy  of  silence,  and 
instead  of  a  political  gathering,  held  a  very  enjoyable  temper- 
ance meeting. 

In  Worcester  the  movement  was  greeted  with  a  very  warm 
and  friendly  reception,  and  was  successful.  A  course  of  liter- 
ary and  scientific  lectures  was  given  by  the  president  of  the 
Reform  Club,  Mr.  Blanchard.  This  very  interesting  and  suc- 
cessful departure  was  well  received  by  the  public,  and  Mr. 
Blanchard  is  to  be  congratulated  on  his  happy  idea.  A  cor- 
respondent graphically  says,  in  describing  the  Reynolds  move- 
ment here  : 

"  Probably  never  before  has  the  heart  of  the  old  common- 
wealth been  so  warm  in  the  cause  of  temperance  as  it  is  at 
this  time.  Our  Reform  Club  has  held  meetings  in  all  the 
principal  churches,  Sunday  evenings,  all  winter,  and  at  each 
and  every  meeting  hundreds  have  turned  away,  not  being  able 
to  gain  admittance.  The  club  recognizes  and  develops  the 
moral  side  of  the  movement,  and  many  members  have  become 
professing  Christians  since  their  reformation.  The  club  has 
nearly  eleven  hundred  enrolled  men,  all  of  whom  have  been 
addicted  to  the  use  of  alcoholics  as  a  beverage,  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent,  and  their  influence  has  reached  as  many  more. 
The  club  has  grown  at  about  the  rate  of  a  hundred  a  month, 


HENEY   A.    REYNOLDS.  831 

and  at  its  last  business  meeting  added  nearly  a  hundred 
members. 

"  The  club  was  organized  by  Dr.  Henry  A.  Reynolds,  Janu- 
ary 16,  1876,  and  the  work  has  been  carried  on  by  the  presi- 
dent of  the  club,  Mr.  William  II.  Blanchard,  who  gives  all  his 
time  and  talents  to  the  cause.  The  club  is  practically  and 
emphatically  red  ribbon  in  all  its  movements  and  machinery. 

"  It  has  the  idea  of  letting  severely  alone  both  politics  and 
religious  dogmas,  and  working  for  the  reformation  of  men.  It 
has  been  called  the  '  Banner  Club '  of  the  State,  not  because 
of  its  numbers,  but  because  of  the  unanimity  and  practical 
working  of  its  members.  They  have  just  moved  to  elegant 
rooms  on  Maine  street,  near  the  old  South  Church." 

Stoneham  was  completely  captured.  The  Boston  Traveller, 
in  reporting  the  wort  here,  gives  as  follows  the  doctor's 
remarks  : 

"  Dr.  Reynolds  commenced  by  lamenting  the  absence  of 
clergymen  at  the  meeting,  which  was  held  at  the  hour  of  the 
usual  Sunday  evening  service.  He  said  the  time  of  meeting 
must  be  changed. 

"  Men  have  got  to  be  saved  ;  and  if  thero  is  any  place  where 
clergymen  ought  to  be  represented  it  is  actively  in  the  tem- 
perance movement.  Rum  is  an  obstacle  at  entrance  to  the 
church  door.  Our  ministers,  instead  of  preaching  to  the  ves- 
tries half  full  of  people,  should  preach  to  full  houses,  and  they 
will  do  so  if  they  can  feel  that  the  temperance  work  is  only 
the  forerunner  of  something  better  and  higher. 

"It  is  this  sort  of  practical  work  which  is  to  be,  and  must  be, 
done.  Drunkards  would  form  the  best  class  in  the  community, 
were  it  not  for  the  curse  of  rum.  As  a  rule  they  have  no  pas- 
sion except  rum,  and  it  is  that  which  causes*  them  to  commit 
crime.  Rid  your  community  of  intoxicating  drinks,  and  you 
will  see  how  quickly  crime  will  decrease  among  your  people. 
Now  they  receive  scotis  and  kicks  because  they  drink,  when 
really  they  are  a  great  deal  better  men  than  some  who  never 
drank  a  drop  of  liquor  in  their  lives. 


832 

"  You  can't  fail  to  see  by  ray  talk  that  I  am  a  friend  of  the 
drunkard.  The  men  who  sit  in  this  Reform  Club  to-night 
would  not  be  here  if  they  had  been  ridiculed  and  abused  as 
scalawags.  Take  them  as  they  are.  not  as  they  were  once.  I 
would  not  turn  a  cold  shoulder  to  a  discharged  convict  if  I 
thought  he  had  become  a  good  citizen." 

The  faucet  through  which  the  last  drop  of  liquor  in  Lock- 
port  had  passed  into  the  public  street  and  gutter  was  then 
exhibited  by  the  doctor,  who  said  in  a  very  eloquent  and 
stirring  manner  that  he  would  like  to  have  such  a  faucet  from 
every  town  in  the  Union. 

"  Now,"  the  doctor  continued,  "  I  want  to  inform  the  rum- 
sellers  that  this  movement  means  business,  not  for  you,  but 
for  us.  I  have  driven  my  stake  for  sixty  thousand  men  in 
Massachusetts,  and  I  am  going  to  have  them,  too.  We  despise 
your  business  ;  but  if  you  will  only  sign  the  pledge  and  try  to 
get  out  of  it  we  will  shake  hands  with  you." 

Dr.  Reynolds  opened  his  work  at  Springfield,  in  June,  1876. 
The  Republican  of  that  city,  reports  the  movement  as  follows: 
"Dr.  Reynolds  regards  the  club  as  a  very  promising  one 
(it  was  only  a  club  of  thirty  members),  but  still  thinks  Spring- 
field rather  fallow  ground  for  temperance  work  ;  which  tallies 
with  the  testimony  of  the  liquor  dealers  and  makers,  that  this 
city  has  more  numerous  and  more  elegant  bar-rooms,  and 
consumes  more  beer  and  liquor  than  any  other  city  of  its  size 
in  the  State.  The  club  does  not  include  any  very  prominent 
citizens,  but  its  members,  of  course,  are  in  earnest,  and  hope  to 
increase  its  numbers  rapidly." 

Dr.  Reynolds'  work  at  Springfield  was  highly  successful. 
The  club  here  at  first  had  only  thirty-seven  members  ;  but  in 
a  short  while  it  increased  to  a  membership  of  over  four  hun- 
dred. Tne  meetings  held  under  its  auspices  sometimes  filled 
three  large  halls  in' different  parts  of  the  city.  Every  Sunday 
afternoon  at  three  o'clock  and  also  in  the  evening  mass  meet- 
ings were  held  in  the  Protestant  churches,  all  of  which  gave 
the  Reform  Clubs  and  their  members  a  most  cordial  welcome. 


HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  833 

The  following  sterling  counsel  given  by  Dr.  Reynolds  to  the 
East  Boston  Reform  Club  will  be  read  with  much  interest : 
"  You  are  to  blame  for  not  having  a  larger  and  more  effective 
club.  You  ought  to  be  self-constituted  missionaries.  Out  of 
gratitude  to  God  for  your  deliverance  you  ought  to  be  the  first 
to  go  out  into  the  byways  and  hedges,  and  compel  others  to 
come  in.  I  know  what  it  is  to  have  a  pleasant  home  and  a 
lucrative  practice  ;  but  I  have  abandoned  both  that  I  may  be 
the  means,  under  God,  of  saving  others  from  the  depth  of 
sorrow  and  suffering  from  which  I  have  been  extricated.  I 
could  not  rest.  Don't  leave  a  stone  unturned  to  reform  others. 
Work  for  this,  and  you  will  succeed. 

"It  don't  make  any  difference  to  God  whether  it  is  a  boot- 
black or  a  millionaire  that  you  are  instrumental  in  saving. 
Members  of  the  East  Boston  Reform  Club,  start  out,  every  one 
of  you,  as  a  committee  of  one,  and  you  will  revolutionize  the 
whole  island.  The  Reform  Club  is  a  life-boat.  It  restores 
men  to  a  good  name  and  happiness.  It  brings  joy  to  the 
whole  household  ;  it  makes  men  feel  that  they  can  be  just 
what  they  most  desire.  Let  a  man  struggling  to  reform  feel 
that  he  has  a  friend. 

"If  there  is  a  moderate  drinker  in  the  house,  and  I  have  no 
doubt  there  are  many,  let  me  tell  them  that  they  are  on  the 
road  to  destruction.  Do  not  flatter  yourselves  that  you  are 
stronger  than  others  who  now  fill  drunkards'  graves. 

"  Men  of  the  Reform  Club,  wear  the  red  ribbon.  I  would 
as  soon  go  without  my  shirt  as  without  my  red  ribbon.  I 
don't  have  to  change  my  ribbon  when  I  change  my  vest,  for  I 
have  one  in  every  vest.  I  once  was  not  ashamed  to  get  drunk  ; 
why  should  I  be  ashamed  to  acknowledge  that  I  don't  drink, 
and  am  consequently  free  from  the  curse  ?  I  want  to  be  known 
as  a  man  who  dares  to  do  right  ;  and  if  every  man  who 
reforms  wears  a  red  ribbon,  it  won't  be  long  before  the 
absence  of  the  ribbon  will  be  noticeable. 

"  It  will  keep  men  from  drinking.  A  man  with  any  decency 
in  his  make-up  would  want  to  take  off  his  ribbon  if  he  was 


834  THE   LIFE   AND    WOKK   OP 

tempted  to  drink  ;  but  while  he  was  taking  it  off  God  would 
be  at  work  at  his  conscience  to  save  him  from  falling. 

"  I  thought  two  years  ago  that  I  had  some  sympathy  for 
my  fellow-men,  but  I  find  now  that  I  have  ten  times  more  love 
for  them  than  evei\  There  is  a  necessity  for  it  ;  but  don't 
forget  that  its  platform  is  non-political,  non-sectarian  and  non- 
legal." 

During  the  Reynolds  excitement  in  Massachusetts,  the  Rev. 
Joseph  Cook,  on  May  22,  in  his  course  of  Monday  lectures, 
given  in  the  Tremont  Temple,  Boston,  offered  the  following 
resolutions,  which  were  very  favorably  received,  and  which 
had  a  rising  vote  : 

"  Resolved,  by  the  audience  at  the  Monday  lectures,  embrac- 
ing representative  clergymen  and  laymen  of  all  denomina- 
tions : 

"  FIRST.  That  the  churches  ought  to  draw  forward  the  tidal 
wave  of  just  reform,  and  never  be  dragged  in  its  wake. 

"  SECOND.  That  the  two  leading  principles  of  the  Reynolds 
Reform  Clubs,  in  the  recent  New  England  temperance  move- 
ment, are  known  to  us  to  be  in  practice  really  what  they  are 
announced  by  a  recent  convention,  in  Lowell,  to  be  in  theory  : 
first,  that  reformed  men  should  aid  each  other ;  second,  that 
religion  and  temperance  should  go  together. 

"  THIRD.  That  these  principles  deserve  financial,  social, 
moral,  and  intellectual  support,  from  the  pulpits  and  congre- 
gations of  all  denominations. 

"  FOURTH.  That  Providence  has  specially  blessed  the  nation 
in  the  New  England  temperance  prayer-meetings,  and  other 
distinctively  church  gatherings  and  discussions  for  the  re- 
claiming of  intemperate  men,  and  teaching  the  community 
its  duty  in  respect  to  the  sale  and  use  of  intoxicating  drinks. 

"  FIFTH.  That  the  interests  of  every  factory  child,  and  all 
the  perishing  and  dangerous  classes  in  cities,  and  especially  of 
the  rich  and  fashionable,  imperatively  call  on  the  churches  to 
follow  with  comely  zeal  this  indication  of  Providence. 

''  SIXTH.  That  the  renting  by  church  members  of  buildings 


HENRY  A.  REYNOLDS.  835 

or  property  to  be  used  for  the  liquor  traffic  is  inconsistent 
with  the  teachings  of  Him  who  purged  the  temple  with  a 
whip  of  small  cords." 

Our  subject's  visit  to  Connecticut,  at  Bridgeport,  Middle- 
town,  and  New  Haven,  was  simply  a  round  of  successes  from 
the  outset  to  the  conclusion.  Everywhere  he  met  with  great 
and  permanent  success,  and  he  did  not  quit  a  place  until  he 
had  accomplished  his  purpose.  In  this  State  his  name  became 
very  popular,  and  the  man  himself  was  esteemed  and  beloved 
for  his  large  heart  and  grand  qualities. 

He  went  to  Providence,  R.  I.,  and  here  he  received  the 
usual  rousing  reception  given  him  wherever  he  went.  Here 
his  success  was  almost  instantaneous  ;  and  no  such  enthusiasm 
over  anything  was  known  in  this  city  before.  The  people 
seemed  to  be  absolutely  carried  away  with  temperance  re- 
form. The  following  interesting  account  of  the  doctor's 
work  at  this  point  is  so  good  that  we  lay  it  before  the  reader 
with  great  pleasure  :  "  The  temperance  movement  in  Provi- 
dence is  something  remarkable.  It  is  less  than  three  months 
since  the  Red  Ribbon  Reform  Club  was  started  by  Dr. 
Reynolds,  and  the  signers  of  the  pledge  number  over  two 
thousand. 

"  The  effect  is  wonderful.  The  principles  they  advocate 
take  strong  hold  on  the  minds  of  men.  The  women  workers 
are  engaged  in  the  same  cause,  and  the  politicians  and  the  press 
are  also  beginning  to  turn  in  the  direction  of  this  great  move- 
ment. Provision  has  been  made  for  entertainment  outside  of 
the  saloons,  by  having  reading  rooms  for  use  in  the  day  and 
evening,  and  measures  are  taken  for  the  permanent  lifting  up 
of  all  who  are  down. 

"  The  movement,  from  the  first,  is  one  of  moral  conviction. 
It  is  the  belief  of  its  leader  that  men  cannot  keep  their 
pledges  unless  the  mind,  the  heart,  and  the  will,  are  engaged 
in  the. work. 

"  The  Reform  Club  was  started  under  unfavorable  auspices, 
and  at  least  one  of  its  officers  was  actually  intoxicated  when 


836  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK    OF 

he  signed  the  pledge.  Everybody  but  the  doctor  prophesied 
his  fall  ;  but,  instead  of  falling,  he  has  worked  so  successfully 
for  the  cause  that  he  has  increased  the  membership  of  the 
club  sevenfold,  and  it  now  stands  one  of  the  most  prosperous 
in  all  New  England,  having  a  membership  of  eleven  hundred, 
who  have  been  drinking  men.  There  is  also  an  auxiliary 
society  of  over  six  thousand,  which  is  a  good  working 
organization  in  the  temperance  interest,  and  whose  Sunday 
evening  meetings  call  out  immense  audiences." 

One  striking  characteristic  of  Dr.  Reynolds  is  the  prominent 
stress  he  puts  upon  the  need  of  divine  assistance  in  his 
temperance  work.  This  trait  is  to  be  highly  commended. 
Without  the  help  of  Almighty  God  the  temperance  re- 
form, now  spreading  over  this  vast  country,  would  be  a  fail- 
ure in  every  respect — this  is  an  undoubted  fact.  God  has 
heard  the  prayers  of  the  thousands  upon  thousands  of  people 
desirious  of  living  purer  and  better  lives  ;  and  under  this  most 
merciful  and  loving  protection  the  wave  only  grows  larger 
and  more  powerful  with  the  rapid  flight  of  time.  He  is  with 
it — no  wonder  it  is  so  grandly  successful  ! 

Dr.  Reynolds  is  a  strong  and  devoted  advocate  of  prayer, 
and  believes  it  is  essentially  a  part  of  .permanent  reformation. 
Earnest  supplication  at  the  seat  of  mercy  certainly  makes  the 
"  will-power  "  stronger  and  firmer  ;  it  certainly  does  refresh 
and  strengthen  both  the  mind  and  heart ;  and  yet  it  is  not 
everything.  Something  besides  prayer  is  necessary  to  lasting 
conversion,  and  that  something  is  work — real,  honest,  steadfast 
labor  combined  with  prayer.  As  the  doctor  pointedly  re- 
marks :  "  I  believe  in  prayer,  but  I  believe  in  work,  too.  It  is 
useless  to  pray  with  a  man  or  woman  who  is  starving  or  per- 
ishing with  cold.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  feed  them 
and  clothe  them.  Thus  they  will  be  in  a  condition  to  listen  to 
your  prayers  and  receive  permanent  benefit. 

"  The  other  day  as  I  was  down  in  the  Eastern  Railroad  de- 
pot, in  Boston,  I  saw  a  finely  dressed  man,  who  came  up  and 
asked  if  I  knew  him.  When  I  told  him  I  did  not,  he  said,  '  I 


HENRY   A.    EEYNOLDS.  837 

am  the  man  who  took  your  pledge  in  Barre,  Mass.,  when  I  was 
too  drunk  to  stand  alone.  They  held  me  up  while  I  signed  it. 
I  never  used  to  go  to  church  or  care  anything  for  religion,  but, 
by  the  help  of  God,  I  have  kept  my  pledge.  Now  I  have 
good  work  and  good  pay,  and  I  and  my  family  are  as  happy 
as  n*e  can  be.' " 

It  must  not  be  inferred  for  a  single  second  that  the  work, 
after  the  departure  of  Dr.  Reynolds  for  other  scenes,  remains 
quietly  still,  or  lapses  into  a  dormant  condition.  On  the  con- 
trary it  lives  and  flourishes  like  a  young  and  hardy  sapling 
planted  in  the  spring  time.  Greater  work  is  accomplished 
after  the  doctor  quits  the  place  than  when  he  is  there.  The 
intense  enthusiasm  created  by  the  red-ribbon  advocate,  is  sup- 
posed by  some  unbelieving  persons,  to  be  surely  transitory  ; 
but  it  is  not  so  by  any  means.  It  is  lasting,  as  is  proven  by 
the  good  results  handed  in  by  the  several  Reform  Clubs  in 
different  parts  of  the  Union  from  time  to  time.  In  referring 
to  this  subject  the  Boston  Gongregationalist  very  aptly  re- 
marks that  :  "  The  enthusiasm  of  its  early  stages  has  settled 
down  into  solid  purpose  of  regular  work.  Reform  Clubs 
spring  up  in  every  direction,  and  seem  certain  of  accomplish- 
ing great  good.  The  politicians  and  professionals  have  no 
hand  in  this  work.  It  belongs  to  the  people,  and,  belonging 
to  them,  it  will  succeed.  Was  there  ever  a  time  when  the 
churches  could  labor  in  the  cause  so  profitably  as  now  ?" 

The  Massachusetts  legislature  was  attracted  to  the  doctor's 
labor,  and  commended  it.  Mr.  Fuller,  of  Boston,  in  his  place 
on  the  floor  of  the  House,  said,  "  the  reform  has  done  more 
good  than  all  the  laws  enacted  during  the  last  forty  years." 
Tliis  remark,  pregnant  with  much  significance  is  made  more 
telling  from  the  fact  that  he  was  the  chairman  of  the  House 
Special  Committee  on  the  Liquor  Law. 

Such  are  some  of  the  characteristic  facts  that  marked  the 
Reform  Club  movement  in  the  New  England  States.  Of 
course,  what  we  have  been  able  to  collate  by  no  means  covers 
all  the  different  features  of  the  Reynolds  temperance  wave  at 


838  THE   LIFE  AND  WOKK  OP 

this  time.  But  from  it  the  reader  will  be  able  to  get  some 
definite  conception  of  its  force  and  strength.  Dr.  Reynolds' 
thirteen  months'  labor  in  Massachusetts  and  New  England 
swept  into  the  temperance  fold  at  least  60,000  people  ;  that  is 
to  say,  made  them  active  "  red-ribbon  "  workers.  Probably 
many  more  than  this  have  been  indirectly  influenced,  for  good 
seed,  well  planted,  grows  and  yields  a  harvest  that  we  cannot 
well  count. 


HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  839 


CHAPTER  X. 

DR.  REYNOLDS'  SPEECH  AT  THE   INTERNATIONAL   CONFERENCE 

IN  PHILADELPHIA. HE  COMMENCES  THE  GRAND  MICHIGAN 

WORK. PROGRESS     AND     SUCCESS    OF     A     PHENOMENAL, 

MOVEMENT. INCIDENTS,  SPEECHES,  AND  STATISTICS. 

WHILE  the  great  International  Exposition  was  being  held 
at  Philadelphia,  a  great  temperance  conference,  representing 
different  nations,  occurred.  A  great  many  distinguished  peo- 
ple were  present,  and  some  of  the  finest  orators  in  the  country 
spoke  in  tones  of  startling  eloquence.  Among  the  speakers 
watf  Dr.  Reynolds. 

He  said,  upon  this  most  memorable  occasion  :  "It  does  not 
put  one  out  in  the  least  to  follow  such  speakers  as  the  Hon. 
Mr.  Raper,  Rev.  Dr.  Miner,  Gen.  Neal  Dow,  Mrs.  Mary 
Livermore,  Wendell  Phillips,  or  any  other  orator,  as  I  do  not 
make  any  profession  to  oratory  myself.  I  claim  to  be  one  of 
God's  feeblest  instrumentalities,  raised  up  by  His  grace,  and 
trying  to  do  something  for  Him,  and  for  those  who  have 
suffered,  as  I  have  suffered,  through  rum.  I  am  one  of  those 
unfortunate  men,  who  have  an  inherited  appetite  for  strong 
drink.  I  love  liquor  to-night,  as  well  as  an  infant  loves  milk. 
The  love  for  intoxicants  is  as  much  a  part  of  my  make-up  as 
my  hand,  and  at  the  time  I  left  off  drinking,  I  had  an  experi- 
ence of  twenty  years.  I  have'suffered  from  delirium  tremens 
as  the  result  of  drinking  intoxicants.  It  has  cost  me  three 
thousand  dollars  for_what  I  know  about  drinking  intoxicants  ; 
and  I  considered  my  life,  previous  to  two  years  ago,  ten  thou- 
sand times  worse  than  thrown  away.  I  have  walked  my 


840  THE   LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

father's  house  night  after  night  for  seven  nights  and  days,  a 
raving,  crazy  madman,  as  the  result  of  intoxicating  beverages. 
At  the  time  that  I  was  suffering  and  upon  the  verge  of  delir- 
ium tremcns,  I  was  obliged  to  do  something  I  had  never  done 
before,  in  order  to  rid  myself  of  this  infernal  curse.  I  had 
drunk  my  last  drink.  I  had  broken  my  bottle.  I  had  sworn 
off  before  a  justice  of  the  peace.  I  had  done  everything  men 
ordinarily  do  to  rid  themselves  of  the  habit  of  drinking,  all  to 
no  purpose.  I  had  delirium  tremens,  and.  it  would  almost 
seem  as  though  a  man  who  suffered  as  I  during  those  seven 
days  and  nights,  would  never  touch  the  infernal  stuff  again  ; 
but  I  did,  and  several  times  afterwards  I  was  on  the  verge  of 
the  delirium  tremens,  so  near  to  them  that  I  could  almost  look 
over  and  see  them,  and  hear  them  hiss  and  howl  at  me.  I  was, 
obliged  to  do  something  different  from  what  I  had  ever  done 
before,  in  order  to  rid  myself  of  this  infernal  appetite.  I 
knew  but  very  little  about  the  Bible — drinking  men  do  not 
read  the  Bible  much — but  I  knew  God  had  promised  to  assist 
those  who  asked  him  in  faith,  believing,  and  I  threw  myself 
upon  my  knees  in  my  office,  by  my  lounge,  and  asked  Almighty 
God  to  save  me,  and  promised  him  that  if  he  would  save  me 
from  such  sufferings  as  I  had  once  been  through,  that,  with  his 
assistance,  I  woiild  be  true  to  myself  and  to  him,  and  do  what 
I  could  to  make  others  happy.  At  that  time  a  little  band  of 
noble  women,  who  had  caught  the  inspiration  from  the  West, 
were  praying  in  my  native  city  in  a  public  place.  Some  of 
these  women  had  been  educated  in  churches  where  they  did 
not  believe  in  women's  praying  or  talking  in  public.  Some  of 
them  had  suffered  very  much  as  the  result  of  having  drinking 
husbands  and  sons.  They  had  received  no  assistance  from  the 
pulpit,  law,  or  press,  and  were  compelled  to  do  something 
different  from  what  they  had  ever  done  before.  So  they 
threw  themselves  upon  their  knees  at  the  foot  of  the  cross, 
and  asked  God  to  give  them  relief  from  their  long  suffering. 
And  I  stand  here  to-night  believing  myself  to  be  a  monument 
of  God's  grace,  saved  through  the  prayers  of  the  noble  women 


HENKY    A.    REYNOLDS.  841 

of  America,  and  feel  myself  to  be  a  beacon-light  erected  upon 
the  breakers  upon  which  I  have  been  shipwrecked,  to  warn  off 
others  from  those  shoals  and  breakers.  Since  I  signed  the 
pledge  I  have  been  a  happy  man.  I  used  to  be  an  unhappy 
man.  I  didn't  want  to  live  ;  I  dragged  out  a  miserable  exist- 
tence.  I  would  have  cut  my  throat,  or  blown  out  my  brains 
but  I  didn't  dare  to.  Now,  I  am  one  of  the  happiest  men  in 
the  world.  Instead  of  going  about  the  streets  cursing  and 
swearing,  I  am  going  about  from  Dan  to  Beersheba  doing 
what  I  can  to  make  other  people  happy,  singing  '  Nearer,  my 
God,  to  Thee,'  <  Rock  of  Ages,'  'All  Hail  the  Power  of  Jesus' 
Name,'  and  looking  upon  the  world  as  my  country,  and 

mankind  as  my  countrymen 

You  have  heard,  doubtless,  of  the  work  which 

has  been  going  on  in  Massachusetts  and  Maine.  I  claim  that 
it  is  God's  work,  and  at  His  feet  I  lay  all  the  glory.  Judging 
from  a  human  standpoint,  it  is  a  wonderful  work,  but  judging 
from  a  spiritual  point  of  view,  it  is  not  wonderful,  because 
nothing  God  does  is  wonderful.  A  minister  said  to  me  the 
other  day,  '  Dr.  Reynolds,  I  have  often  heard  of  you,  and  am 
glad  to  meet  you.  I  have  an  offer  to  make  you.  I  have  fifty 
dollars  in  my  pocket,  that  I  will  give  you  if  you  will  tell  me 
how  you  do  this  work.'  I  told  him  I  did  not  do  it,  that  God 
did  it.  I  told  him  that  I  looked  upon  myself  as  one  of  the 
foolish  things  of  this  world  that  had  been  raised  up  to  con- 
found the  wise.  I  have  a  sympathy  for  the  drunkard,  which 
I  cannot  express  or  explain.  I  love  him  as  I  love  my  brother  ; 
and,  as  the  result  of  going  out,  and  taking  God  for  my  leader, 
and  acting  what  I  believed  to  be  a  practical  Christian  life,  I 
have  the  honor  and  privilege  and  pleasure  of  standing  here 
to-night,  and  saying  to  you  that  during  the  past  twenty-one 
months,  ending  the  tenth  of  this  month,  51,000  men  have  been 
reclaimed  from  drunkenness  and  planted  upon  the  rock  of  total 
abstinence — looking  to  God  for  assistance  to  enable  them  to 
keep  their  feet  the^e.  Hundreds  and  hundreds  and  hundreds 
are  full-souled  Christians.  They  haven't  been  saved  by  cuffs 
36 


842  THE   LIFE  AND    WOEK   OF 

and  curses  and  the  cold  shoulder,  but  by  the  hand  of  brotherly 
love  and  sympathy  ;  not  by  standing  up  here  and  beckoning 
them  to  come  up,  but  by  going  down  to  them,  as  Christ  did, 
and  giving  them  a  hand  through  which  an  electrical  thrill  of 
sympathy  went,  impregnating  their  whole  organization,  and 
making  them  feel  that  they  have  one  friend.  And  if  there  is 
a  man  in  God's  world  who  is  ready  to  accept  the  hand  of 
friendship  and  sympathy  and  brotherly  love,  it  is  the  poor, 
unfortunate  drunkard.  These  men  must  be  saved  by  practical 
Christian  work — by  treating  them  as  men. 

"Now,  this  reform  movement  is  not  very  high-toned.  It  is 
even  found  fault  with  because  it  is  not  high-toned  enough. 
The  reason  is  because  these  high-toned  people,  so-called, 
won't  come  down.  They  don't  dare  to  do  right.  They  don't 
do  right.  If  they  did,  the  reform  clubs,  instead  of  being  made 
up  of  middle-class  men,  and  humble  men,  would  be  made  up 
in  part  of  those  in  higher  circles  of  society,  who  would  give 
it  a  higher  tone  ;  but  something  keeps  them  out.  But  this 
reform  work  commenced,  and  has  been  carried  on,  as  all  other 
reforms,  among  the  humbler  classes  in  society.  It  is  so  with 
Christianity.  Christ  was  the  reputed  son  of  a  poor  man,  a 
carpenter,  and  was  in  the  highways  and  hedges  most  of  his 
time.  He  didn't  stand  up  in  high  places  and  beckon  for  men 
to  come  up  ;  he  didn't  judge  men  by  their  property  or  color 
or  nationality,  or  anything  except  the  principle  that  was  in 
him.  He  mingled  with  the  most  debased  and  vile  and  unfor- 
tunate and  wretched,  and  led  them  along,  and  walked  with 
them,  and  saved  them  by  kindness  and  sympathy  and  broth- 
erly love." 

In  the  summer  of  1876,  the  International  Temperance 
Camp-meeting  was  held  at  Old  Orchard  Beach,  in  the  State  of 
Maine.  It  was  here  that  Dr.  Reynolds  was  elected  President 
of  the  National  .Temperance  Association,  with  ex-Governor 
Perham,  of  Maine,  Mrs.  Annie  Wittenmyer,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  Francis  Murphy  as  Vice-Presidents  ;  and  it  was  here  also 
that  he  received  a  very  cordial  invitation  to  go  West  and  con- 


HENKY   A.  REYNOLDS.  843 

duct  a  temperance  movement,  and  organize  Reform  Clubs. 
This  invitation  was  extended  to  him  by  the  State  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  National  Christian  Temperance  Union  of  Mich- 
igan, Mrs.  Jane  M.  Geddes.  This  lady  is  the  wife  of  the  Hon. 
Norman  Geddes  of  Adrian,  Michigan,  and  occupies  both  a 
high  social  and  public  position  in  that  State.  Her  name  has 
become  a  part  of  temperance  reform,  and  she  is  well  known 
in  the  West  as  a  philanthropist,  and  especially  as  an  earnest 
advocate  of  total  abstinence. 

She  passed  the  summer  of  1876  in  travelling,  but  being 
attracted  by  the  camp-meeting  at  Old  Orchard  Beach,  she 
changed  her  route  and  went  there.  Here  she.  met  Dr.  Rey- 
nolds and  learned  his  mode  of  temperance  reform. 

The  intense  excitement  in  her  State  caused  by  the  crusade 
had  died  almost  out ;  and  she  felt  something  must  be  done  to 
again  bring  the  people  to  a  due  sense  of  their  peril.  The 
Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Unions  still  lived,  met  and 
held  prayer-meetings,  but  did  very  little  good  in  rousing  the 
masses.  The  people  were  surely  drifting  back  into  their  old 
state  ;  and  it  seemed  impossible  to  stop  it.  The  prohibitory 
law  had  been  repealed  by  parties  opposed  to  temperance,  and 
liquor  selling  had  increased  to  frightful  dimensions.  The 
temperance  advocates  were  scoffed  at  and  ridiculed,  and 
were  very  despondent  under  the  disheartening  turn  affairs  had 
taken.  Mrs.  Geddes  felt  Michigan  was  a  ripe  field  for  Dr. 
Reynolds,  and  urged  him  to  go  there,  which  he  agreed  to  do, 
immediately  after  the  expiration  of  his  engagements  in  other 
parts  of  the  country.  He  could  not  for  some  time  fix  upon, 
any  certain  date,  and  in  consequence  letter  after  letter  came 
to  him  from  Michigan  begging  him  to  come  to  appoint  the 
time,  so  that  the  people  might  be  duly  informed  of  his  advent. 
He  finally  said  he  would  be  there  some  time  in  the  month  of 
November. 

No  monetary  arrangements  were  made.  Dr.  Reynolds  and 
his  family  were  invited  to  make  the  home  of  Judge  Geddes 
theirs  ;  and  Mrs.  Geddes  agreed  to  find  engagements  for  him  at 


844  THE  LIFE  AJSTD  WOEK   OF 

different  points  of  the  State.  The  expenses  of  the  movement, 
such  as  the  renting  of  halls,  printers'  bills,  travelling  expenses 
and  the  salary  of  the  lecturer  were  entirely  dependent  upon 
the  liberality  of  the  public.  There  were  many  disheartening 
things  in  the  doctor's  way  on  his  arrival  at  Adrian.  The 
family  of  Judge  Geddes  was  afflicted  with  scarlet  fever  ;  the 
temperance  people  were  discouraged  and  despondent ;  and 
there  Avas  the  great  excitement  over  the  election  of  the  presi- 
dent. He  felt  like  turning  back,  but  he  was  determined  to 
commence  the  siege  any  way  now  that  he  was  on  the  ground. 
There  was  no  other  place  open  but  Adrian,  and  he  had  to 
begin  at  this  point.  His  arrival  had  been  somewhat  sudden, 
and  there  had  been  but  a  few  days  in  which  to  announce  pos- 
itively that  he  would  be  there  ;  consequently  there  was  no 
chance  of  a  general  system  of  regular  appointments. 

The  doctor  had  to  rally  out,  and  make  his  own  arrangements 
for  holding  a  meeting  as  best  he  could.  He  engaged  a  hall, 
and  held  a  meeting  which  was  slimly  attended.  The  second 
meeting  was  worse  than  the  first.  The  state  of  affairs  cer- 
tainly did  not  seem  very  promising.  However  a  change  came 
on  Sunday  afternoon.  The  men's  meeting  was  conspicuous 
for  about  three  hundred  persons,  the  majority  of  whom  were 
positive  drinkers  if  not  drunkards.  Very  stirring  and  inter- 
esting addresses  were  delivered  by  the  doctor  and  some  of  the 
prominent  clergymen  of  the  place,  which  made  considerable  of 
an  impression.  Twenty-eight  drinking  men  came  forward 
that  afteraoon,  and  affixed  their  signatures  to  the  doctor's 
pledge.  The  success  of  this  meeting  flashed  over  the  toAvn, 
and  induced  a  large  crowd  of  curiosity-seekers  to  attend  the 
mass-meeting  at  the  Opera  House  in  the  evening.  The  num- 
ber of  pledge-signers  was  fifty-five  ;  on  Monday  it  increased 
to  fully  eighty.  All  of  these  pledge-takers  were  more 
or  less  men  who  were  addicted  to  intoxicants.  The  interest 
and  enthusiasm  then  grew,  and  in  a  very  short  while  the  Opera 
House  was  so  crowded  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  hold 
overflow  meetings  in  the  churches  close  by.  The  temperance 


HE1STEY   A.    REYNOLDS.  845 

advocates  became  themselves  again,  and  worked  away  with 
zeal  and  love.  The  prayer-meetings  started  by  the  crusaders 
were  now  very  largely  attended,  and  wei'e  soon  the  most  in- 
teresting phase  of  Adrian  life.  Instead  of  weekly,  daily  meet- 
ings were  held  and  crowds  of  eager  people  attended  them 
regularly.  Women  who  had  taken  active  parts  in  the  crusade, 
and  who  were  zealous  and  effective  temperance  reformers,  were 
called  in  from  different  points  to  help  carry  on  the  great  and 
good  work  ;  the  anti-temperance  people  were  alarmed  and 
scoffed  no  more,  but  held  their  peace  ;  and  the  liquor-dealers 
looked  on  in  mute  fear  and  amazement.  The  doctor,  the 
"  red-ribbon  man,"  was  received  every  time  he  appeared  in 
public  in  the  warmest  manner  imaginable.  He  became  a 
household  word  in  Adrian,  and  the  neighboring  towns  of 
Tecumseh,  Hillsdale,  Cold  Water,  and  Monroe,  were  excited 
at  the  reports  that  came  from  Adrian  of  the  doctor's  great 
work  and  success.  He  was,  therefore,  cordially  invited  to  visit 
them  also,  and  organize  reform  clubs  in  their  region. 

His  method  surprised  and  pleased  every  one.  It  was  the  first 
instance  of  the  inebriate  rising  up  in  favor  of  temperance  in 
Michigan,  and  consequently  it  was  a. source  of  considerable 
surprise  and  admiration.  If  the  drunkard  came  forward  of  his 
own  will,  and  became  a  strong  advocate  to  total  abstinence, 
every  one  should  follow  his  good  example. 

Dr.  Reynolds  went  to  Jackson,  and  on  the  following  Sabbath 
held  a  meeting.  The  hall  was  literally  packed,  and  he  made  a 
most  favorable  impression.  The  people  were  intensely  enthu- 
siastic, and  took  the  matter  up  in  the  right  spirit.  The  work 
here  never  flagged  for  even  a  day,  but  grew  all  the  more 
strong  and  more  permanent  with  the  flight  of  time.  The 
Reform  Club  was  a  strong  power  ;  and  the  secretary  of  it  was 
a  reclaimed  man,  notorious  as  one  of  the  hardest  drinkers  in 
the  place.  He  more  than  acceptably  filled  his  honorable  posi- 
tion. Jackson  became  known  as  "  the  temperance  missionary 
center"  of  the  State,  for  having  sent  out  a  number  of  re- 
formed men,  who  did  excellent  work  in  other  fields. 


846  THE   LltfE  AKD  WOEK  OP 

Dr.  Reynolds'  advent  in  the  Saginaw  Valley  was  marked 
with  very  flattering  success.  He  carried  everything  before 
him.  East  Saginaw  had  600  signatures  to  his  pledge,  mostly 
hard-drinking  men  ;  and  Saginaw  City  fully  290.  His  success 
was  so  signal  in  this  section  alone  that  the  entire  State  of 
Michigan  was  aroused  to  an  intense  pitch  of  excitement,  and 
from  that  time  the  name  of  Henry  A.  Reynolds  was  upon 
everyone's  lips.  Everybody  caught  the  intensity  of  feeling, 
the  earnestness  and  enthusiasm  that  radiated  from  him  ;  and 
the  temperence  movement  was  pushed  onward  with  glorious 
results.  Michigan  took  him  in,  and  accepted  him  in  his  true 
light — a  hero,  and  one  sent  by  God  to  rouse  the  fallen  and 
the  drunken  to  a  fitting  sense  of  their  awful  position  and  to 
save  them  for  future  lives  of  honor  and  usefulness. 

The  next  point  of  the  doctor's,  labor  was  Detroit.  The  Rev. 
Dr.  Eddy  of  this  city  was  instrumental  in  bringing  the  reformer 
to  this  place.  It  was  the  reverend  gentleman's  fixed  intention 
that  the  red-ribbon  movement  should  commence  here,  and 
through  Mrs.  Geddes  the  arrangement  was  partially  consum- 
mated. The  doctor  offered  his  services  for  a  movement  in 
Detroit ;  but  no  one  there  appeared  willing  to  accept  them. 
A  meeting  of  ministers  had  been  called  ;  but  nothing  definite 
could  be  arrived  at  save  that  the  movement  would  not  be  suc- 
cessful in  Detroit  as  it  was  in  other  places.  The  expense  that 
would  necessarily  attend  it  no  one  was  ready  to  meet.  The 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  was  unwilling  to  take  it  in 
hand.  The  only  body  in  the  city  that  stepped  forward  to  help 
Dr.  Reynolds  was  the  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union. 
This  band  of  earnest  and  devoted  Christian  women  were,  how- 
ever, brave  and  zealous  enough  to  inaugurate  a  dozen  temper- 
ance movements.  Entirely  through  them  was  the  doctor 
enabled  to  labor  in  this  city. 

The  Opera  House  was  engaged  by  them,  at  seventy-five 
dollars  per  diem.  They  extensively  advertised  the  doctor's 
coming  and  notified  the  public  well  of  this  new  departure  in 
temperance  reform. 


HENRY   A.    REYNOLDS.  84? 

The  first  meeting  was  largely  attended  and  the  people  were 
enthusiastic.  A  large  number  signed  the  pledge.  The 
enthusiam  grew  more  intense  each  day,  and  finally  the  whole 
city  was  alive  to  the  work  going  on  under  Dr.  Reynolds' 
direction.  The  Sunday  afternoon  meeting  was  an  event  in  the 
annals  of  Detroit.  Long  before  the  appointed  time  there  was 
an  immense  crowd  waiting  at  the  doors  of  the  Opera  House, 
and  when  they  were  flung  open,  and  the  people  settled  in  their 
seats,  the  place  was  filled  from  pit  to  gallery.  The  applause 
that  greeted  the  doctor  that  day  was  something  long  to  be 
remembered.  The  excitement  was  great.  Over  five  hundred 
men  took  the  pledge,  men  addicted  to  strong  drink  for  years. 
There  were  nine  hundred  signers  in  the  evening,  some  of 
whom  were  gentlemen  of  high  social  and  political  standing. 
D.  Bethune  Duffield,  a  noted  attorney-at-law,  signed  the  pledge 
on  this  occasion.  He  was  afterwards  elected  first  president 
upon  the  organization  of  the  Reform  Club.  The  following 
citation  from  a  communication  to  Our  Union,  a  woman's 
temperance  organ  published  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  gives  an  in- 
teresting report  of  the  method  of  the  Reynolds  meetings  as 
illustrated  in  the  Detroit  work  : 

"  The  meetings  were 'held  in  the  Detroit  Opera  House,  which 
was  crowded  from  the  first.  On  the  second  afternoon  a  meet- 
ing composed  entirely  of  men-  was  held,  and  after  telling  his 
own  history  in  his  usual  touching  manner,  Dr.  Reynolds  read 
the  constitution  of  the  '  Detroit  Reform  Club,'  an  organization 
which  he  declared  should  be  separate  and  distinct  from  every 
other  society  or  order  in  existence,  composed  only  of  men  who 
had  passed  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  who  at  some  time  during 
their  lives  had  been  more  or  less  addicted  to  the  use  of 
intoxicating  liquors.  He  then  appealed  to  the  audience  to 
come  forward  and  join  the  red-ribbon  brigade,  if  not  for 
themselves,  for  the  good  which  their  example  might  do  to 
others.  A  most  remarkable  scene  ensued.  The  vast  audience 
rose  to  its  feet  and  joined  in  singing  hymns,  while  the  aisles 
of  the  parquette  were  crowded  with  men  pressing  forward  to 


848  THE  LIFE  AND  WOEK  OF 

the  orchestra  circle,  where  the  pledges  were  waiting  for 
signatures,  young  and  old,  rich  and  poor,  among  them  many 
who  have  heretofore  been  known  as  fast  young  men  of  the 
town.  In  order  to  facilitate  matters  a  number  of  pledge-rolls 
were  sent  up  into  the  galleries,  and  others  were  placed  upon 
the  stage  and  signed  by  large  numbers  who  passed  across  in 
unbroken  line  from  one  wing  to  the  other.  Thus  547  names 
were  obtained. 

"  The  first  regular  meeting  of  this  club  was  held  at  Young 
Men's  hall,  Mr.  Beecher  having  generously  placed  the  rooms 
at  the  disposal  of  the  knights  of  the  red  ribbon.  Over  a  thou- 
sand names  were  by  that  time  enrolled,  a  boy's  Reform  Club 
being  also  started. 

"A  ladies'  meeting  was  also  held  in  the  First  Congregational 
Church,  composed  exclusively  of  ladies.  The  meeting  was 
opened  with  prayer  by  Mrs.  Dr.  Stewart,  and  the  singing  of  a 
hymn,  after  which  addresses  were  made  by  Dr.  Reynolds, 
Mrs.  Lathrop,  of  Jackson,  Mrs.  Geddes,  of  Adrian,  and  a 
number  of  ladies  belonging  to  the  Women's  Christiam  Tem- 
perance Alliance  of  this  city.  When  Dr.  Reynolds  finally  left 
Detroit  for  Jackson,  he  was  accompanied  to  the  depot  by  a 
body  of  over  1,000  red  ribbons.  It  should  be  mentioned  that 
among  those  signing  the  pledge  the  last  evening,  was  a  saloon 
keeper  on  the  corner  of  Michigan  avenue  and  Second  street, 
and  those  who  go  there  this  morning  to  get  their  daily  drams, 
will  find  the  door  locked  and  ornamented  with  a  large  red  rib- 
bon. Dr.  Reynolds  remarked,  after  the  adjournment,  that  he 
had  never  before  accomplished  so  much  for  the  cause  of  tem- 
perance in  four  days'  woi'k  as  he  had  during  his  brief  stay  in 
Detroit." 

The  statement  that  "  in  the  city  of  Detroit  there  were  for- 
merly a  hundred  arrests  a  month  for  drunkenness,  and  the  num- 
ber during  the  red-ribbon  seige  had  diminished  to  nearly  one- 
half  that  number,"  proves  beyond  all  dispute  what  great 
results  were  brought  about  by  Dr.  Reynolds  while  there. 
During  the  four  days  he  was  there  no  arrests  were  made  for 


HENRY   A.    REYNOLDS.  849 

drunkenness,  and,  according  to  the  Free  Press,  nine  days  be- 
fore his  advent  there  were  sixty  arrests  for  drunkenness  and 
disturbing  the  peace,  and  for  the  nine  days  following  it  there 
were  only  eleven. 

A  Red  Ribbon  Club  was  organized  by  the  police  force  ;  and 
these  guardians  of  the  public's  peace  ai'e  now  to  be  seen  going 
about  with  their  piece  of  red  ribbon  next  to  their  official  badge. 

Up  to  date  the  Detroit  Reform  Club  reports  the  goodly 
membership  of  three  thousand  seven  hundred.  This  is  the 
largest  Reform  Club  in  the  country. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Reynolds,  the  latter  of  whom  is  also  an  ardent 
worker  in  the  temperance  cause,  held  meetings  for  three  clays 
in  Pontiac,  and  the  result  was  a  harvest  of  four  hundred  and 
thirty-eight.  It  now  has  over  seven  hundred  members  in  its 
club. 

At  Lansing  Dr.  Reynolds  achieved  no  little  success.  He 
had  here  the  assistance  of  Dr.  Duffield,  and  Messrs.  Crosby 
and  Pruden.  The  place  was  very  excited  over  the  movement; 
and  the  work  was  interesting  and  almost  inspired.  Lansing 
never  had  been  moved  before  as  Dr.  Reynolds  moved  it.  The 
Reform  Club  had  over  a  thousand  drinking  men  enrolled  as 
members,  among  whom  were  the  members  of  the  Lansing 
common  council  and  a  number  of  the  members  of  the  legis- 
lature. In  a  very  short  time  it  increased  to  twelve  hundred. 
This  fact  is  remarkable  when  we  take  into  consideration  that 
Lansing  has  only  eighteen  hundred  and  fifty  voting  voices. 

The  Woman's  Temperance  Union  here  organized  a  "  White 
Ribbon  Club  ;"  the  membership  of  which  was  four  hundred 
and  sixty-three.  A  knot  of  white  ribbon  is  worn  by  the  ladies 
on  the  right  shoulder. 

The  following  speech,  delivered  by  Dr.  Reynolds  at  one  of 
the  Lansing  meetings,  will  be  perused  with  interest,  as  he 
clearly  defines  his  position  and  work  in  the  world  : 

"  I  stand  before  this  audience  a  reformed  drunkard.  I  was 
born  a  drunkard,  and  I  have  suffered  in  every  way  that  a  man 
could  suffer  by  strong  drink.  At  thirty-six  years  old  I  was  a 
36* 


850  THE   LIFE   AND    WORK   OF 

drunkard  and  a  pauper.  I  bad  earned  thirty  thousand  dollars 
by  my  profession,  and  the  whole  of  it  had  gone  in  sprees.  I 
was  the  unhappiest  man  in  the  world  :  I  wished  for  death, 
but  I  had  not  the  courage  to  take  my  own  life.  I  have  drawn 
the  charges  from  my  pistol,  burned  my  razors,  and  thrown 
poisons  from  my  window  lest  I  should  use  them  for  my  death 
in  some  insane  moment. 

"  When  the  Woman's  Crusade  rose  in  the  West,  I  cursed  it. 
The  great  wave  rolled  to  the  East  until  it  reached  my  native 
State.  Women  who  had  prayed  in  private,  and  had  besought 
and  agonized  over  a  drunken  husband,  or  son,  or  bi-other, 
driven  to  desperation,  united  their  prayers  in  public  for  the 
lifting  of  the  curse  which  was  crushing  them.  Still  I  cursed 
them.  I  felt  indignant  enough  to  kill  my  own  sister  if  she 
should  join  such  a  movement.  But  at  last,  as  I  was  walking 
my  office  one  day,  on  the  verge  of  delirium  tremens,  I  be- 
thought me  in  this  last  extremity  to  appeal  to  God.  And  then 
this  poor,  ragged,  trembling  wreck  of  humanity  fell  on  his 
knees,  and  alone,  in  the  presence  of  his  Maker,  poured  out  his 
soul,  and  raised  a  last  despairing  cry  for  that  relief  which  God 
alone  could  give. 

"I  rose  up  another  man.  I  pi'omised  God  that  I  would 
publicly  renounce  the  thralldom  of  alcohol,  and  a  few  days 
afterward  I  went  to  the  woman's  meeting  in  my  native 'city  of 
Bangor,  and  publicly  signed  the  pledge  of  total  abstinence. 
Then  I  went  to  work  among  my  friends.  But  before  I  knew 
it  I  had  kicked  my  practice  overboard,  and  stood  fully  com- 
mitted to  this  work — the  work  of  saving  drunkards  by  the 
power  of  love. 

"  The  first  red  ribbon  worn  in  Congress  will  go  into  the 
House  of  Representatives  on  the  coat  of  Edwin  Willetts,  of 
Monroe,  Mich. 

"You  want  to, know  why  we  have  a  red  ribbon  ?  Well,  I 
will  tell  you.  A  few  years  ago  a  lot  of  good,  big-hearted, 
whole-souled  fellows,  who  had  been  in  the  habit  of  drinking, 
got  together  and  resolved  that  they  would  rather  wear  a  red 


HE1STRY   A.  REYNOLDS.  851 

ribbon  than  a  red  nose.  And  they  acted  accordingly.  The 
ribbon  is  tied  in  a  hard  knot,  you  see,  for  the  reason  that  no 
man  would  like  to  go  into  a  saloon  and  ask  for  a  drink  with 
that  badge  on  ;  and  while  he  was  stopping  to  untie  it,  the 
Lord  would  come  in,  and  cast  the  devil  of  appetite  out  of  him, 
and  save  him." 

At  the  meeting  when  the  above  "  talk,  "  as  the  doctor  calls 
his  addresses — was  delivered,  an  interesting  episode  occurred. 
A  young  lady  whose  escort  was  about  to  pass  by  on  the  other 
side,  told  him  quietly  yet  firmly  that  he  must  sign  the  pledge 
or  bid  her  good-night  there  and  then.  Seeing  that  she  was 
really  in  earnest,  he  said,  "  Well,  I'm  in  for  it,  so  here  goes  !" 
and  he  signed  the  pledge.  He  was  more  than  repaid  for  what 
he  had  done  by  the  smile  she  favored  him  with  as  he  took  her 
arm  through  his  and  they  went  on  together. 

Good  work  was  done,  and  flourishing  Reform  Clubs  started 
by  the  doctor  at  Ypsilanti,  Battle  Creek,  Benton  Harbor  and 
other  points  in  the  State.  When  much  faith  had  been  exer- 
cised and  "  patience  bad  her  perfect  work,  "  light  broke  glori- 
ously in  an  immense  meeting  held  in  Bay  City  on  the  evening 
of  January  21,  187*7.  Westover's  Opera  House  was  filled  with 
a  great  throng  and  a  Reform  Club  was  organized,  which  enrolled 
two  hundred  and  fhirty-seven  names  at  once.  Dr.  Rey- 
nolds Vent,  the  last  four  weeks  of  his  work  in  Michigan,  to  the 
frontier  settlements  of  the  Upper  Peninsula,  and  here  met 
with  his  usual  success.  In  the  Lower  Frontier  the  civilized 
Indians  organized  a  club  of  their  own  at  Indian  Town,  in 
Autumn  county.  They  signed  the  pledge  ;  and  were  able  to 
keep  it,  and  were  fully  as  enthusiastic  as  their  white  brothers. 

In  Three  Rivers  there  are  one  thousand  members  of  the  red- 
ribbon  clubs,  and  three  hundred  of  the  white.  At  Albion 
almost  all  the  population  were  carried  by  storm,  and  within 
two  months  four  hundred  and  five  signers  have  enrolled  them- 
selves. In  two  days  the  town  of  Muir  responded  to  the 
efforts  of  Dr.  Reynolds  by  a  club  of  eighty-five  signers.  Port 
Huron  and  Grand  Rapids  yielded  to  its  influence,  and  organ- 


852  THE   LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

ized  a  club  of  several  hundreds  each.  Grand  Haven  in  four 
days  had  four  hundred  and  twenty-five  signatures  to  the  Rey- 
nolds pledge — the  U.  S.  Senator  Thomas  W.  Ferry  being  one 
of  the  signers.  The  Village  of  Mount  Clemens,  with  but  six- 
teen hundred  inhabitants,  at  one  meeting  obtained  over  one 
hundred  members  to  its  club.  The  most  prominent  liquor 
dealer  of  the  place  was  one  of  the  first  to  sign  the  pledge.  He 
poured  all  his  liquor  on  the  ground.  In  a  single  week  this  small 
place  had  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  names  to  the  pledge. 

Kalamazoo  has  a  Reform  Club  of  a  membership  of  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-eight.  Flint  sends  in  a  report  of  over 
two  hundred.  Muskegon  has  fourteen  hundred  members  in 
its  Reform  Club. 

These  reports  go  far  to  show  what  a  good  and  great  work 
was  done  in  Michigan  by  Dr.  Reynolds  :  and  they  prove  that 
the  people  of  this  State  are  fully  aware  of  the  dangers  and 
pitfalls  King  Alcohol  raises  in  their  way,  and  are  determined 
to  vanquish  him,  no  matter  how  long  or  how  hard  the  fight 
may  be. 

It  is  a  strange  fact  that  many  were  doubtful  of  the  doctor's 
success  in  Michigan  ;  not  doubtful  of  him  as  a  worker  in  the 
temperance  cause,  but  as  being  able  to  induce  the  people  to 
become  temperate.  There  had  been  such  a  complete  lull  after 
the  "crusade,"  that  almost  every  one  believed  temperance 
would  never  become  popular  again,  and  in  consequence  of  this 
feeling  the  doctor's  reception  in  some  cities  was  rather  cold 
than  warm.  This,  however,  was  soon  changed  by  him  into 
positive  enthusiasm.  Now,  at  Muskegon,  the  pastors  of  the 
several  churches  there,  having  been  written  to  by  the  man- 
ager of  the  doctor's  appointments  offering  him  for  a  series  of 
meetings  in  that  town,  answered  that  they  deemed  it  advis- 
able for  the  doctor  not  to  come  to  their  city  for  awhile,  as  there 
were  religious  revivals  going  on  at  the  time.  The  following 
correspondence  later  on  took  place  : 

"  MUSKEGON,  January  18,  1877. 

"  Mrs.  J.   M.    Geddes — Dear  Madam :    You   remember   I 


HENRY  A.    REYNOLDS.  853 

wrote  you  that,  on  account  of  revival  work  in  this  city,  I  did 
not  know  that  arrangements  had  better  be  made  to  have  Dr. 
Reynolds  come  here.  This  revival  still  continues.  But  I  am 
inclined  to  think,  judging  by  the  favorable  reports  I  hear, 
that  if  Dr.  Reynolds  should  come  it  would  not  only  incline 
many  intemperate  men  to  a  better  life,  but  also  help  in  the 
glorious  work  of  saving  souls.  Our  city  is  cursed  terribly 
with  intemperance  ;  we  have  nearly  ten  thousand  inhabitants, 
and  saloons  by  the  score." 

After  the  doctor  had  left  this  place,  the  same  pastor  wrote 
as  follows  to  Mrs.  Geddes  : 

"  MtiSKEGOisr,  March  7,  1877. 

"  Dr.  Reynolds  has  been  the  humble  instrument  in  the  hands 
of  God  of  a  great  deal  of  good  in  this  city.  The  Christian 
people  here  had  carefully  prepared  the  way  by  preliminary 
work  and  earnest  prayer.  His  first  audience  numbered  nearly 
one  thousand  ;  the  Saturday  evening  meeting  was  larger  than 
that  of  Friday  evening.  The  meeting  on  Sunday  afternoon 
was  for  men  only,  and  was  attended  by  nearly  one  thousand. 
Two  hundred  and  fifty-five  men  joined  the  Reform  Club  that 
afternoon.  In  the  evening  a  very  large  public  meeting  was 
held,  and  many  more  accessions  were  secured  to  the  club. 

"  Monday  afternoon  a  meeting  for  women  was  held  in  the 
audience  room  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  Over 
three  hundred  ladies  joined  the  Woman's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Union.  On  Monday  evening  another  very  large  meeting, 
for  men,  was  held  in  Union  Hall.  It  was  attended  with  great 
enthusiasm,  the  men  sometimes  being  fairly  wild  with  excite- 
ment, and  breaking  out  into  deafening  cheers.  The  clnb  was 
increased  to  more  than  five  hundred  and  seventy. 

"  This  morning  the  Reform  Club,  led  by  a  fine  brass  band, 
and  attended  by  our  city  pastors,  escorted  Dr.  Reynolds  to 
the  depot,  and  he  departed  for  Big  Rapids.  His  departure 
left,  as  results,  a  Reform  Clnb,  of  six  hundred  and  three  men; 
a  Woman's  Christian  Temperance  Union,  of  three  hundred 


854  THE    UFE>AND  WOEK  OF 

and  sixty  ladies :  and  one  thousand  signers  to  the  total  absti- 
nence pledge. 

"  Yours  truly,  C.  L.  BAKNHABDT, 

"Pastor  M.K  Church." 

So  the  glorious  wofk  rolled  through  the  State  from  town  to 
town  with  an  enthusiasm  that  seemed  infectious.  The  callous 
and  indifferent  were  awakened  into  a  new  and  earnest  life, 
and  the  hard  crust  of  what  may  be  called  hack-horse  religion 
was  broken  up.  New  power  was  poured  into  the  veins  and 
arteries  of  all  the  social  forces,  which  co-operate  for  good. 
Much  of  the  success  of  the  Reynolds  movement  is  to  be 
attributed  to  his  natural,  easy,  informal  manner  as  a  speaker 
and  processes  as  a  worker. 

The  methods  of  Dr.  Reynolds  were  marked  by  the  utmost 
simplicity.  This  delightful  phase  in  his  movement  surprised 
and  charmed  everyone.  He  first  organized  a  club  of  men  who 
had  been  more  or  less  addicted  to  the  use  of  intoxicating 
drink,  and  who  had  attained  the  age  of  eighteen  years ;  he 
then  appealed  to  the  Christian  women  of  the  locality  to  throw 
about  them  the  blessed  shield  of  their  love  and  sympathy,  and 
finished  his  work  of  preparation  by  impressing  upon  the  citi- 
zens at  large  the  necessity  of  upholding  the  club  with  hearty 
and  substantial  assistance. 

"  The  meetings  of  the  club  are  on  a  secular  evening  of  each 
week,"  a  good  authority  informs  us;  "and  on  Sunday  after- 
noons or  evenings  the  clubs,  with  the  Woman's  Christan 
Temperance  Unions,  hold  public  meetings,  which  are  always 
crowded.  The  order  of  exercises  at  these  public  meetings  con- 
sists of  prayer,  reading  of  the  scriptures,  and  brief  addresses  by 
reformed  men,  interspersed  with  singing  gospel  songs.  As  the 
clubs  increase  one  by  one,  the  leaders  of  the  towns  join  the 
ranks,  until  now  in  scores  of  towns  of  Massachusetts,  and  sev- 
eral of  the  Western  States,  a  public  sentiment  has  been  created 
which  ostracizes  the  drinking  man  from  good  society. 

"  The  insignia  of  Dr.  Reynolds  is  a  piece  of  red  ribbon,  and 
any  man  wearing  it  is  received  wherever  he  chooses  to  go  in 
a  manner  that  clearly  shows  how  the  public  regard  it.  It  is  a 


HENKY   A.  EEYNOLDS.  855 

signal  to  which  all  good  Christian  people  respond  with  deep 
interest  and  sympathy. 

"  The  motto,  '  Dare  to  do  Right,'  is  most  appropriate,  and 
has  taken  its  place  as  a  great  favorite  among  the  familiar  sug- 
gestive expressions  of  the  times." 

The  pledge  signed  by  each  member,  and  the  constitution 
and  by-laws  adopted  by  reform  clubs,  as  inaugurated  by  Dr. 
Reynolds  and  his  earnest  co-workers,  are  as  follows  : 

Whereas,  Having  seen  and  felt  the  evils  of  intemperance, 
therefore, 

JResolved,  That  we,  the  undersigned,  for  our  own  good  .and 
the  good  of  the  world  in  which  we  live,  do  hereby  promise 
and  engage  with  the  help  of  Almighty  God,  to  abstain  from 
buying,  selling  or  using  alcoholic  or  malt  beverages,  wine  and 
cider  included.  And  that  we  shall  accomplish  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  good,  and  work  most  effectually,  we 
hereby  adopt  for  our  government  the  following  constitution 
and  by-laws  : 

ARTICLE    I. 

This  organization  shall  be  called  and  known  as  the 

REFORM  CLUB. 

ARTICLE  II. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  each  member  of  the  Club  to  work  in 
the  interests  of  the  same  by  inducing  all  those  who  are  ad- 
dicted to  the  use  of  intoxicating  drinks  to  sign  our  pledge  and 
become  faithful  members  of  the  Club. 

ARTICLE    III. 

All  male  persons  of  the  age  of  eighteen  years  and  upwards, 
who  have  been  in  the  habit  of  using  intoxicating  liquor  to  a 
greater  or  less  extent,  are  eligible  to  membership  in  this  Club. 

ARTICLE    IV. 

The  officers  of  this  Club  shall  consist  of  a  President,  three 
Vice-Presidents,  Secretary,  Financial  Secretary,  Treasurer,  one 
Steward,  two  Marshals,  one  Sergeant-at-Arms,  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  five,  and  Finance  Committee  of  three. 


856  THE    LIFE  AND  WOEK   OF 

The  Executive  and  Finance  Committees  shall  be  appointed 
by  the  President  and  approved  by  the  Club. 

ARTICLE  v. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President  to  preside  at  all  meet- 
ings of  the  Club,  to  preserve  order,  enforce  the  constitution 
and  by-laws  of  the  Club,  see  that  the  officers  perform  their 
respective  duties,  sign  all  documents  issued  by  the  Club,  call 
special  meetings  when  it  is  deemed  expedient,  or,  upon  the 
written  request  of  twelve  or  more  of  the  members  of  the  Club, 
cause  the  Secretary  to  notify  the  members  of  such  meetings, 
and  approve  all  bills. 

ARTICLE   VI. 

In  the  absence  of  the  President  the  senior  Yice-President 
shall  preside,  and  while  in  the  chair  shall  exercise  all  the 
powers  of  the  President. 

ARTICLE    VII. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Secretary  to  keep  a  correct  record 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Club,  notify  members  of  special 
meetings,  attest  all  bills  approved  by  the  President  and  Ex- 
ecutive and  Finance  Committees,  conduct  the  correspondence, 
make  a  I'eport  of  the  doings  of  the  Club  during  his  term  of- 
office,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  hand  over  all  books,  papers, 
and  other  property  to  his  successor  in  office. 

He  will  call  the  roll  of  officers  at  all  business  meetings,  and 
keep  a  record  of  absentees. 

ARTICLE     VIII. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Financial  Secretary  to  keep  a  just 
and  true  account  between  himself  and  the  Club,  and  between 
the  Club  and  its  members  ;  to  receive  all  moneys  from  the 
hands  of  the  brethren,  and  at  the  close  of  each  meeting  pay 
the  same  to  the  Treasurer,  taking  his  receipt  therefor.  He 
shall,  when  called  upon  by  the  President,  furnish  a  statement 
of  accounts  and  aiist  of  all  members  in  arrears  for  dues. 

ARTICLE    IX. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Treasurer  to  receive  all  moneys 


HENRY  A.  REYNOLDS.  857 

from  the  hands  of  the  Financial  Secretary,  keep  a  just  and 
true  account  of  the  same,  and  pay  it  out  only  on  an  order 
authorized  by  a  vote  of  the  Club,  signed  by  the  President  and 
Secretary,  and  approved  of  by  the  Finance  Committee.  He 
shall  also,  before  taking  office,  give  bonds  that  shall  be  satis- 
factory to  the  President  and  Finance  Committee,  in  a  sum 
that  shall  not  be  less  than  two  hundred  dollars,  or  such  other 
larger  amount  which  shall  be  satisfactory  to  the  President  and 
Finance  Committee,  prepare  and  present  at  the  annual  and 
quarterly  meetings  (or  oftener,  if  required)  a  true  statement 
of  the  financial  condition  of  the  Club,  and  of  all  moneys  re- 
ceived and  disbursed  by  him,  and  at  the  expiration  of  his 
term  of  office  hand  over  all  books,  papers,  and  other  property 
in  his  possession  to  his  successor  in  office. 

ARTICLE'  X. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Executive  Committee  to  have  a 
general  oversight  of  the  affairs  of  the  Club,  examine  and  re- 
port all  violations  of  the  pledge,  investigate  arid  report  quar- 
terly the  progress  of  the  Club. 

ARTICLE    XI. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Finance  Committee  to  examine 
and  report  on  all  bills  brought  before  them,  audit  the  accounts 
of  the  Financial  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  and  make  a  report 
of  the  same  to  the  Club  at  least  once  a  quarter,  or  when  other- 
wise called  upon  to  do  so. 

ARTICLE    XII. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Marshals  to  take  charge  of  all 
public  prosecutions. 

ARTICLE    XIII.      , 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Steward  to  have  charge  of  the 
property  of  the  Club  not  under  the  control  of  any  of  its 

officers. 

ARTICLE    XIV. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  to  take  charge 
of  the  door  of  the  Club-room,  and  assist  the  President  in  pre- 
serving order  during  all  meetings  of  the  Club. 


&58  THE   LIFE  AND   WOKK  OF 

AETICLE     XV. 

Fifteen  members  in  good  standing  shall  constitute  a  quorum 
for  the  transaction  of  business. 

ARTICLE    XVI. 

Any  person  who  is  eligible  to  membership  in  this  Order 
shall,  upon  signing  this  constitution,  become  a  member  thereof; 
but  should  an  objection  be  raised  in  any  case,  the  President 
shall  immediately,  without  discussion,  order  a  ballot. 

The  affirmative  vote  of  two-thirds  of  all  the  members  pres- 
ent shall  be  necessary  to  elect  the  candidate. 
ARTICLE  xvn. 

All  meetings  of  this  Club  shall  be  conducted  free  from  all 
political  or  sectarian  discussions. 

ARTICLE     XVIII. 

The  officei-s  of  this  Club  shall  be  elected  on  the  last  Wednes- 
day in  December,  by  ballot,  and  installed  the  first  Wednesday 
in  January  in  each  year  ;  but  should  either  of  these  days  fall 
upon  a  holiday,  then  the  election  and  installation  shall  take 
place  on  the  Wednesday  next  following. 

ARTICLE     XIX. 

Any  member  of  this  Club  who  shall  violate  his  pledge 
thereby  forfeits  his  membership,  but  may  again  become  a 
member  by  acknowledging  the  same,  and  paying  the  sum  of 
twenty-five  cents,  as  in  the  case  of  new  members,  and  signing 
the  constitution  anew. 

ARTICLE    XX. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  President,  upon  receiving 
reliable  information  of  a  member  having  violated  his  pledge, 
to  report  the  same  to  the  Executive  Committee,  who  shall  in- 
vestigate the  case,  and  report  the  same  to  the  Club  at  the 
next  meeting. 

ARTICLE     XXI. 

All  reports  of  committees  shall  be  made  in  writing,  and 
signed  by  such  members  as  indorse  the  sentiments  contained 
therein. 


HENRY   A.  REYNOLDS.  859 

ARTICLE    XXII. 

Any  officer  absenting  himself  from  four  regular  meetings, 
without  good  and  sufficient  reason,  his  seat  shall  be  declared 
vacant,  and  an  election  by  ballot  shall  be  held  the  same  even- 
ing to  fill  the  vacancy. 

"  ARTICLE     XXIII. 

All  official  documents  issued  for  the  Club  shall  be  signed  by 
the  President  and  Secretary. 

ARTICLE     XXIV. 

Members  whose  names  have  been  stricken  from  the  books 
for  non-payment  of  dues  may  again  renew  their  membership 
by  paying  all  back  dues  during  such  time,  and  signing  the 
constitution  anew. 

ARTICLE     XXV. 

Any^officer  wishing  to  resign  h^s  office  shall  give  the  Club 
at  least  one  week's  notice  before  his  resignation  can  be  acted 
upon. 

ARTICLE      XXVI. 

Any  member  in  good  standing  who  may  wish  to  withdraw 
from  the  Club  shall,  upon  a  vote  from  the  Club  in  the  affirm- 
ative, be  entitled  to  an  honorable  discharge. 

ARTICLE     XXVII. 

This  constitution- may  be  altered  or  amended  at  any  regular 
or  special  meeting  of  the  Club,  provided  such  alteration  or 
amendment  shall  have  been  submitted  in  writing  at  the  pre- 
vious regular  meeting. 

ORDER  OF  BUSINESS. 

1 .  Opening. 

2.  Roll  call  of  officers. 

3.  Reading  of  the  minutes. 

4.  Applications  for  membership. 

5.  Communications. 

6.  Reports  of  committees. 

7.  Unfinished  business. 

8.  New  business. 


860  THE   LIFE  A1STD   WORK   OP 

9.  Has  any  brother  violated  his  pledge  ? 

10.  Remarks  for  the  good  of  the  Club. 

11.  Receipts  of  the  evening. 

12.  Adjournment. 

BY-LAWS. 

ARTICLE   I. 

The  meetings  of  this  Club  shall  be  held  every  Wednesday 
evening  at  seven  and  one-half  o'clock,  until  otherwise  ordered, 
and  the  public  meetings  shall  be  held  at  such  time  and  place 
as  the  Club  may  decide. 

ARTICLE    II. 

On  the  first  Wednesday  in  .each  month  the  regular  meet- 
ings of  the  Club  will  be  held,  at  which  members  will  pay  their 
monthly  assessments,  the  Financial  Secretary  calling  the  roll, 
and  members  paying  as  their  names  are  called.  This  will 
not  prevent  any  member  from  paying  at  business  meetings. 
Each  and  every  member  shall  pay  the  sum  of  twenty-five 
cents  monthly. 

ARTICLE   III. 

Any  member  one  month  in  arrears  for  dues  will  be  notified 
by  the  Financial  Secretary,  and  if  his  dues  remain  unpaid  for 
four  weeks  after  said  notification,  without  good  and  sufficient 
reason  being  given  for  the  non-payment  thereof,  he  shall, 
upon  the  two-thirds  vote  of  all  members  present,  be  suspended. 

ARTICLE    IV. 

The  following  questions  shall  not  be  debatable  :  1st.  A  mo- 
tion to  adjourn,  when  to  adjourn  simply.  2d.  A  motion  to  lay 
on  the  table.  3d.  A  motion  for  the  previous  question.  4th. 
A  motion  to  take  up  a  particular  item  of  business. 

ARTICLE   V. 

No  member  shall  speak  more  than  twice  on  one  subject, 
unless  he  be  the  mover  or  seconder,  unless  by  permission  of  the 
President. 

ARTICLE   VI. 


HENRY  A.  REYNOLDS.  861 

toward  another,  and  any  member  indulging  in  personal- 
ities shall  be  deemed  out  of  order,  and  if  persisted  in  after 
being  called  to  order,  shall  be  deprived  of  the  privilege 
of  membership  for  that  evening.  Any  member  using  insult- 
ing or  indecent  language  in  connection  with  the  officers  and 
members  of  this  Club  may,  upon  a  two-thirds  vote  of  the  mem- 
bers present  at  any  meeting,  be  expelled  from  said  Club. 

ARTICLE    VII. 

Should  it  be  deemed  necessary  to  take  up  a  collection  to  de- 
fray expenses  at  any  public  meeting,  it  shall  be  done  by  a 
committee  appointed  by  the  President,  and  they  will  hand  the 
amount  over  to  the  Financial  Secretary,  or,  in  his  absence,  to 
the  Secretary,  who  shall  pay  it  over  to  the  Treasurer,  taking 
his  receipt  for  the  same. 

ARTICLE    VIII. 

These  by-laws  may  be  amended  or  suspended  at  any  regu- 
lar meeting  by  a  two-thirds  vote  of  all  members  present. 

Before  entering  further  into  a  history  of  the  Reynolds  tem- 
perance movement,  which,  after  it  left  Massachusetts  and  the 
East,  was  to  assume  its  most  striking  aspects  as  a  matter  of 
public  interest,  in  Illinois  and  Michigan,  a  few  words  will  be 
necessary  to  give  a  clue  to  the  modus  operandi  of  his  work  as 
compared  with  that  of  the  other  great  temperance  wave,  that 
of  Francis  Murphy.  The  latter  advocate  of  reform  has  pur- 
sued his  plans  by  the  effect  of  magnetic  sympathy  and  arator- 
ical  effect  in  groat % mass  meetings;  utilizing  in  connection 
therewith  the  peculiar  and  intense  dramatic  appeal  of  speeches, 
from  the  platform,  of  those  who  had  been  converted  by  the 
influence  of  his  addresses.  This  use  of  one  of  the  powerful 
factors  in  the  discipline  of  the  Methodist  church  organization, 
an  influence  of  its  kind  hardly  less  stringent  than  that  of  the 
Romish  Confessional  in  its  force  in  swaying  human  motive 
and  action,  has  been  alluded  to  before.  It  has  emphasized 
itself  as  one  of  the  most  marked  features  of  the  Murphy 
movement,  judged  as  a  system  of  influences  brought  to  bear 


862  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

on  the  popular  mind.  On  the  other  hand,  while  Dr.  Rey- 
nolds has  not  ignored  this  phase  of  effort,  it  has  been  an  inci- 
dental feature  in  the  method  of  his  work. 

The  Reynolds  movement  maybe  summed  up  briefly  as  a 
system  of  reform  clubs,  organized  with  special  reference  to 
the  results  to  be  attained.  The  Murphy  work  has  been  done 
in  connection  with  vast  assemblies,  newspaper  celebrity,  and 
that  passionate  ferment  of  all  classes  from  the  scholar,  the 
clergyman,  the  doctor,  the  lawyer — in  a  word,  the  man  of 
social  distinction — down  to  the  humble  laborer,  who  toils  with 
his  hands  for  his  daily  bread.  The  Reynolds  work  has  been 
pursued  more  quietly,  and  as  a  consequence,  however  stable 
and  powerful  in  its  effects,  has  not  attained  the  same  popular 
excitement.  A  marked  characteristic  of  Dr.  Reynolds'  pecu- 
liar labors  is  the  direct  outcome  of  the  circumstances  of  his 
own  reform  as  an  individual,  and  ho  has  since  made  it  a  most 
telling  agency  in  carrying  out  his  grand  work.  We  refer  to 
that  great  power  in  society,  which  for  the  good  and  evil  has 
moiilded  the  minds  of  men  so  organically  from  the  earliest 
days  to  the  present  time,  the  power  of  woman.  Dr.  Reynolds 
was  drifted  by  circumstance  into  connection  with  a  woman's 
temperance  organization,  when  he  first  took  the  pledge.  Both 
gratitude  and  policy,  we  may  assume,  have  caused  him  to 
make  the  influence  of  woman  a  permanent  and  characteristic 
element  of  his  work.  The  woman's  crusade  was  one  of  the 
most  extraordinary  and  significant  facts  in  the  history  of 
American  temperance.  It  may  in  fact  be  cited  as  an  unpar- 
alleled outburst  in  the  social  phenomena  of  reform.  Dr. 
Reynolds'  alliance  with  this  agency  has  become  so  direct,  that 
we  are  impelled  to  enlarge  somewhat  on  the  phases  of  the 
women's  temperance  work  for  several  years  back,  though 
we  can  only  speak  of  it  in  general  terms.  Emphatically  we 
may  assert  that  io-  is  utterly  impossible  to  give  even  the 
slightest  conception  of  the  work  and  the  methods  of  Dr.  Henry 
A.  Reynolds  without  describing  the  Women's  Temperance 
Unions),  or,  we  should  say,  the  immortal  "  Crusade,"  as  the  tAvo 


HE1STEY  A.  EEYNOLDS.  863 

great  movements  go  together  hand  in  hand,  and  are  identified 
with  one  another. 

The  flash  of  light  that  helped  to  arouse  thousands  to  the  fright- 
ful evils  of  intemperance  and  the  blessed  results  of  total  absti- 
nence, rayed  out  from  the  town  of  Hillsboro,  Ohio,  in  1873. 
Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  in  a  lecture  at  this  place,  related  in  a  most 
effective  manner  how,  forty  years  before,  his  pious  mother, 
the  wife  of  a  wretched  drunkard,  who  was  struggling  to  feed, 
clothe  and  educate  her  young  and  helpless  family,  went  with  a 
band  of  devoted  women  who  had  a  similar  sorrow,  to  the  differ- 
ent tavern-keepers,  and  kneeling  down  in  each  bar-room,  prayed 
with  and  for  the  proprietors,  and  besought  them  to  abandon  a 
business  that  was  cursing  their  neighbors  and  bringing  want 
and  suffering  into  many  once  happy  homes.  These  efforts 
were  crowned  with  success.  After  narrating  this  pathetic 
story  of  his  mother,  the  noted  lecturer  asked  all  the  women 
present,  who  were  willing  to  follow  her  example,  to  rise,  and 
in  response  nearly  the  entire  audience  sprang  to  their  feet. 
From  that  evening  was  born  the  crusade.  Meetings  were 
held,  and  the  women,  strengthened  by  long  and  earnest 
prayer,  commenced  their  work.  They  went  to  the  druggists 
where  wine  was  sold  to  genteel  customers,  and  to  saloons,  and 
prayed  and  sang  gospel  songs  out  on  the  cold  pavements,  some- 
times in  blinding  storms,  for  it  was  in  the  winter  season. 

To  rescue  their  beloved  husbands,  fathers  and  sons,  from 
the  maddening  cup,  these  women,  who  knew  the  refinement 
and  luxury  of  elegant  homes,  and  the  culture  of  study  and 
travel,  bravely  faced  the  wrath  of  infuriated  mobs.  An  ex- 
cellent authority  has  truly  and  aptly  remarked  that  "the 
record  of  those  days  and  months  will  never  be  fully  read  this 
side  eternity." 

It  was  soon  evident  that  the  gigantic  work  they  had  under- 
taken would  consume  the  labor  of  years  ;  and  that  some  other 
plan,  equally  efficient,  must  be  adopted. 

In  the  spring  of  1874,  conventions  were  called  in  various 
States  by  these  brave  vromen,  the  results  of  which  were  State 


8G4  THE  LIFE  AND  WOKK  OF 

organizations  for  future  work.  A  grand  national  convention 
was  held  in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  November,  1874,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  uniting  and  combining  State  bodies.  From  that  time 
the  work  steadily  progressed,  and  was  very  successful.  There 
are  up  to  date  twenty-two  States  organized  auxiliary  to  the 
national  body,  and  almost  numberless  local  unions  in  every 
State  in  the  Union,  except  the  extreme  south,  and  the  territo- 
ries of  the  far  west.  An  International  Union  was  formed  in 
1876,  our  "  centennial  year,"  and  now  the  women  of  Europe 
are  working  away  with  the  same  will  and  power  characteristic 
of  their  American  sisters. 

The  only  sure  safety  for  the  seller  and  drinker  of  intoxicat- 
ing drinks  was  faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus.  The  crusaders  recog- 
nized this  most  emphatic  fact  from  the  very  outset,  and  acted 
upon  it  accordingly.  Gospel  temperance  meetings  were  in- 
augurated in  every  part  of  this  vast  country,  and  the  men  and 
women,  to  whom  religion  was  long  an  unknown  and  ridiculous 
spectacle,  unworthy  their  slightest  attention,  flocked  in  im- 
mense crowds  to  them  like  thirsty  souls. 

Twenty  meetings  were  held  weekly  in  Cleveland  ;  in  Brook- 
lyn the  same  number  ;  in  Chicago  fourteen  ;  in  New  York  city 
nine  ;  and  in  Newark  eight.  Every  local  union  has  a  weekly 
prayer-meeting,  and  many  of  them  have  public  temperance 
services  on  Sabbath  afternoons,  sometimes  in  churches,  some- 
times in  public  halls  or  beer  gardens  ;  mothers'  meetings, 
where  the  poor  come  with  their  children,  and  have  a  simple 
supper  after  the  exercises  ;  meetings  in  prisons  and  in  jail, 
whither  nine-tenths  are  brought  through  drink  alone  ;  Bible 
classes  of  reformed  men  ;  cottage  prayer-meetings,  especially 
in  the  houses  of  the  dissipated  ;  among  sailors,  who  are  par- 
ticularly subject  to  temptation  ;  in  inebriate  and  Magdalen 
asylums,  hospitals  and  bethel  homes.  Our  authority  says, 
"  over  two  hundred  such  meetings  are  held  by  women  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  in  mission  and  charitable  institutions.  In 
several  cities,  as  in  Chicago,  Brooklyn,  New  York  and  Cleve- 
land, a  daily  temperance  prayer-meeting  has  been  sustained 


HENEY  A.  EEYNOLDS.  865 

since  the  beginning  of  the  crusade.  All  these  meetings  mean 
time,  labor  and  consecration.  Who  shall  say  that  the  work 
has  ceased  ?" 

One  of  the  most  successful  agents  employed  to  elevate  and 
educate  the  people  is  the  work  of  petition.  In  this  way  while 
influence  had  been  brought  to  bear  upon  the  legislature,  tem- 
perance conversations  were  held  in  tens  of  thousands  of  homes. 
Indiana  sent  a  petition  with  23,000  signatures,  praying  for  a 
voice  in  the  local-option  election,  and  helped  to  circulate  a 
general  petition  which  had  the  large  number  of  75,000  names. 
The  women  of  Rhode  Island  secnred  the  signatures  of  10,000 
women  to  a  petition  for  the  suppression  of  the  traffic,  and  car- 
ried it  before  the  legislature.  Their  prayer  was  granted  ; 
but  the  law  was  repealed  when  the  new  officers  were  elected. 
Massachusetts  women  sent  a  petition  to  Congress  having 
22,000  names,  and  one  for  the  repeal  of  the  new  license  law, 
having  10,000.  The  women  of  Ohio  kept  the  politicians  con- 
stantly agitated  by  their  petitioning.  A  monster  petition 
with  hundreds  of  thousands  of  names,  from  all  the  states,  was 
carried  by  a  delegation  of  women  to  Congress,  asking  for  a 
commission  of  inquiry  in  regard  to  the  liquor  traffic. 

The  greater  number  of  the  men  who  attended  the  gospel 
meetings  had  no  homes,  no  cheery  place  to  pass  an  evening 
except  in  a  saloon,  or  no  where  to  board  except  where  a  bar 
offered  constant  and  usually  successful  temptation.  Friendly 
inns,  consisting  of  a  reading-room,  dining-room  and  sleeping 
apartments,  were  established  in  nearly  all  the  leading  cities. 
Cleveland  had  live  ;  Rochester  two  ;  Syracuse  one  ;  where 
over  600  men  renounced  their  cups  ;  Buffalo  one,  where  200 
signed  the  pledge  in  a  very  short  time  ;  and  scores  more  in 
other  towns.  Massachusetts  had  twenty-six  reading-rooms  ; 
Iowa  twenty-two  ;  Ohio  twelve  ;  Illinois  eight ;  Pennsylvania 
five  ;  Wisconsin  and  Michigan  a  very  large  number,  and 
nearly  all  of  the  other  States  several  in  each. 

The  women  strove  to  reach  the  next  generation  through 
the  children  and  their  auxiliary  juvenile  societies  in  Manches- 


866  THE    LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

ter,  N.  H.,  Syracuse,  Pittsburgh,  New  York,  Brooklyn,  Massa- 
chusetts, Minnesota,  Indiana,  Pennsylvania,  and  Ohio.  In  Ore- 
gon and  Tennessee,  the  women  train  the  little  children  for  the 
good  fight.  It  was  deemed  advisable  that  a  temperance  liter- 
ature should  be  provided  for  the  youthful  mind  ;  and  the  idea 
was  formed  and  carried  out  with  no  little  success.  The  chil- 
dren were  taught  to  sing  temperance  song's,  and  to  recite  from 
wisely  prepared  catechisms. 

The  young  women  of  the  country  brought  their  valuable 
aid  in  taking  charge  of  juvenile  societies,  holding  day  and 
night  schools,  and  sewing-schools  for  girls  ;  assisting  inebriate 
families,  and  so  formed  public  opinion,  as  to  make  it  unpopu- 
lar and  even  disgraceful  for  young  men  to  imbibe. 

It  was  also  attempted  to  form  a  society  in  all  seminaries  and 
colleges  for  young  women,  because  the  latter,  as  they  go  out 
from  school,  would  become  centers  of  influence. 

This  plan  met  with  general  favor.  The  cause  and  its  earn- 
est advocates  had  a  day  and  sometimes  a  couple  of  days 
given  them  at  the  great  summer  gathering,  as  Old  Orchard 
Beach,  Chatauqua  Lake,  and  other  places.  Medical  bodies 
were  invited  to  give  their  views  on  the  uses  of  alcohol.  They 
always  sided  with  the  temperance  advocates.  The  laity  came 
forward  en  masse  and  took  the  cause  by  the  hand,  and  worked 
nobly  for  it  from  the  very  beginning. 

The  officers  of  the  National  Union  gave  up  everything  to 
further  the  good  work,  travelling  at  any  time  and  to  any  dis- 
tance to  hold  and  conduct  temperance  meetings  and  conven- 
tions. But,  of  course,  the  great  work  was  done  by  the  almost 
numberless  local  "  Women's  Temperance  Unions,"  scattered 
throughout  the  different  States  ;  silently  and  unostentatiously 
toiling  like  the  coral  insects  under  the  surface  of  the  foam- 
ing sea,  and  building  the  deep  foundations  on  which  smiling 
islands  and  continents  are  anchored  fast. 

Dr.  Reynolds  instantly  puts  himself  into  harness  with  the 
"  Women's  Temperance  Union,"  and  the  two  co-operate  with 


HENRY   A.    REYNOLDS.  867 

the  most  surprising  results,  as  the  statistics  we  shall  by-and-by 
collate  will  suggest. 

This  bond  of  alliance  is  furthermore  expressed  by  the  badge 
of  the  white  ribbon,  worn  by  women  and  children,  otherwise 
the  same  as  the  red-ribbon  token  born  by  the  members  of  the 
reform  clubs,  directly  organized  by  Dr.  Reynolds.  The  potency 
of  the  social  influence  thus  put  into  operation,  can  hardly  be 
measured  by  one  who  has  not  directly  watched  its  workings. 
These  earnest,  praying  women  give  their  dissipated  husbands, 
fathers,  sons,  sweet-hearts  or  friends,  no  peace  till  they  consent 
to  go  and  hear  one  of  Reynolds'  talks,  and  submit  themselves 
to  his  influence. 

So  deeply  stamped  on  the  heart  of  the  Michigan  people  has 
been  their  recognition  of  the  value  of  the  Reynolds'  work, 
that  it  was  publicly  indorsed  and  approved  by  the  legislature. 
Representative  R.  B.  Robbins,  of  Lenawee  county,  offered  the 
following  concurrent  resolution  in  the  house  of  representatives, 
by  unanimous  consent,  which  was  adopted  by  both  houses, 
without  a  dissenting  vote,  handsomely  engrossed,  signed  by 
the  presiding  officers  of  both  houses  and  the  governor,  the 
State  seal  affixed,  and  the  whole  handsome  and  valuable  testi- 
monial presented  to  Dr.  Reynolds  : 

Resolved  (the  Senate  concurring),  That,  in  the  recent  work 
introduced  into  this  State  by  Dr.  Henry  A.  Reynolds,  we 
recognize  a  reform  so  beneficent  in  its  aims,  and  so  wise  in  its 
measures,  as  to  have  won  public  confidence  ip  an  unprecedented 
degree, — not  only  achieving  marvellous  results  in  its  effects 
upon  individuals,  families  and  communities,  but  promising  to 
be  so  far-reaching  in  its  influence  as  of  necessity  to  greatly 
diminish  poverty  and  crime,  the  expenses  of  almshouses,  police 
courts  and  prisons,  as  well  as  the  demands  upon  private  and 
public  charity  ;  and  promising  also  to  solve  the  much-vexed 
problem  of  tramps,  vagrants,  paupers  and  convicts — striking, 
as  it  does,  at  the  root  of  pauperism  and  crime. 

Resolved,  that  to  Dr.  Henry  A.  Reynolds,  the  originator 


868  THE  LIFE  AND    WORK   OF 

and  prosecutor  of  this  reform,  as  developed  in  this  State,  we 
tender  grateful  appreciation  and  thanks. 

Approved  May  3,  1877. 

CHARLES  M.  CKOSWELL. 

ALONZO  SESSIONS, 

[Seal.]  President  of  the  Senate. 

JOHN  T.  RICH, 
Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 

A  well  known  gentleman  writing  to  a  leading  paper,  in 
speaking  of  Reynolds,  says  :  "  I  feel  safe  in  saying  that  in  the 
whole  history  of  our  State  (Michigan)  no  one  man  ever  did  so 
much  for  the  moral,  social  (and  I  think  I  might  add,  material) 
interests  of  the  State."  Who  ever  before  heard  of  a  legisla- 
ture commending  a  temperance  worker  f 

In  local  meetings,  in  camp-meetings  and  conventions,  the 
enthusiasm  has  grown  and  spread,  and  the  contagion  of  the 
influence  has  run  like  wild-fire.  Even  in  the  backwoods  and 
the  wilds  of  the  State  the  grand  wave  has  rolled,  and  left  its 
marks.  Some  of  the  incidents  that  have  occurred  are  very 
well  worth  recording,  and  one  of  these  we  give.  Towards  the 
close  of  the  late  camp-meeting  at  Petoskey,  Michigan,  a  very 
interesting  episode  took  place.  The  evening  was  one  of  those 
beautiful  evenings  that  make  one  quiet  and  speechless  with 
their  great  beauty.  Sailing  through  the  clouds  was  the 
harvest  moon  ;  and  the  long  rays  of  silver  light  glistened 
through  the  thick  trees,  and  lit  up  the  inspired  face  of  a  lady, 
who  had  given  her  entire  time  and  talents  to  the  temperance 
work,  and  who,  at  this  moment,  was  entreating  all  to  come 
forward  and  allow  her  to  tie  on  the  red  ribbon.  The  very  air 
seemed  tremulous  with  the  prayers  of  the  crowd  assembled 
there  to  worship,  and  the  eye  of  God  seemed  to  be  regarding 
the  scene.  While  the  lady  was  entreating  the  people  to  take  the 
pledge,  an  old  Indian  chief  was  led  forward  gently  by  two  of 
his  tribe.  With  the  well-known  majesty  of  his  race  he  ap- 
proached, and  said  in  the  low,  singing  tones  peculiar  to  his 
people  :  "  I  am  Petoskey,  chief  of  the  Indian  people.  I  want 


HENRY   A.    REYNOLDS.  869 

to  take  the  pledge  from  the  white  lady,  and  let  her  fingers  tie 
the  red  ribbon  on  old  Petoskey's  coat."  How  the  lady's  lovely 
face  brightened  and  glowed  at  that !  She  stepped  down  from 
the  platform  and  went  to  him.  "  My  dear  brother,"  she  said, 
in  a  voice  very  suggestive  of  joyful  tears  ;  "  far  away  from 
the  blue  Atlantic  I  have  come  from  my  home,  in  the  green 
Emerald  Isle,  where  all  I  love  lies  sleeping,  to  take  you  by  the 
hand  and  call  you,  chief  of  the  Indian  tribe,  my  brother.  I 
welcome  you  as  you  clasp  hands  with  us,  workers  in  this 
sacred  cause  of  temperance,  a  cause  which  means  not  alone 
patriotism,  nationality,  but,  blessed  be  God,  it  means  religion. 
I  shall  go  on  my  way  stronger  as  I  remember  up  here  in  the 
wilds  of  Northern  Michigan  our  numbers  are  strengthened  by 
Petoskey's  signature." 

"  I'll  meet  you  beyond  that  sky  there,  and  shall  need  no  more 
moon  or  sun,  for  He  will  be  the  light  thereof."  And  with 
that  the  dignified  old  chief  retired  as  he  came. 

The  following  resolutions  were  passed  by  the  State  Con- 
gregational Association,  which  closed  its  session  at  Ann  Arbor, 
on  May  18,  1877.  Rev.  Ira  C.  Billman,  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  temperance,  offered  the  following  report  and 
resolutions,  which  were  adopted  : 

"  WJiereas,  The  cause  of  temperance,  one  of  the  most 
practical  workings  of  Christianity,  embracing  many  of  the 
dearest  interests  of  humanity,  social  and  religious,  has  received 
a  great  and  far-reaching  impetus  in  our  State  within  the  last 
few  months,  especially  under  the  forms  of  what  are  popularly 
known  as  the  red-ribbon  movement,  the  Woman's  Temper- 
ance Union,  and  the  Children's  Band. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  have  devout  cause  of  thanksgiving  to 
God  and  encouragement  for  still  more  untiring  devotion  to 
this  arm  of  the  Master's  service,  and  that  as  ministers  and 
churches,  we  lend  our  influence  to  promote  their  utilization. 

"Resolved,  That  especial  mention  be  made  of  Dr.  H.  A. 
Reynolds,  who  has  been  confessedly,  under  God,  the  efficient 
instrument  in  this  great  work,  and  we  recommend  him,  from 


870  THE  LIFE  AND   WORK   OP 

personal  knowledge,  to  the  confidence  of  all  to  whom  this 
may  reach.  We  also  express,  in  this  connection,  our  apprecia- 
tion of  the  services  of  Mrs.  Norman  Geddes,  of  Plymouth 
Society,  Adrian,  through  whose  efforts  he  was  secured  at  first, 
and  who  has  by  continued  inspiring  assistance,  planned  and 
encouraged  the  great  campaign." 

The  following  letter  to  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Daniels,  A.  M.,  will 
be  perused  with  general  satisfaction  as  it  graphically  tells  the 
story  of  the  first  Juvenile  Reform  Club  in  Michigan  : — 

"ADRIAN,  December  18,  1877. 

"Dear  Sir: — I  belong  to  the  Reform  Club  of  Adrian,  and  I 
thought  that  my  little  boy,  nine  years,  might  be  benefited  by 
attending  the  meetings  with  me.  When  the  pledge  was  read 
he  came  to  me,  and  asked  if  he  couldn't  sign.  I  told  him  no  ; 
he  was  not  old  enough  yet  ;  that  he  must  be  eighteen  years 
old  before  he  could  become  a  member  of  the  society.  He 
replied  that  nine  years  was  along  time  to  wait :  and  I  thought 
it  was,  with  all  the  influences  that  tend  to  draw  our  boys  from 
virtue  and  from  God.  Nine  years  hence  he  might  be  any- 
thing but  a  fit  subject  for  a  temperance  society.  It  troubled 
me,  and  I  told  him  that  I  would  write  him  out  a  pledge,  and 
he  and  his  little  sister  and  play-fellows  could  sign  it,  and  have 
a  little  society  of  their  own,  which  pleased  him  very  much. 

"  Thanksgiving  morning  I  wrote  this  pledge  : — 

"  '  We  promise  that  we  will  not  use  any  cider,  wine,  beer,  ale, 
or  other  intoxicating  liquor. 

" '  We  promise  that  we  will  neither  smoke,  chew,  nor  use 
tobacco  in  any  form.' 

"  He  wrote  his  name,  Charley  T.  Boyd,  on  the  pledge,  and 
said  he  would  have  his  play-fellows  come  and  sign.  Shortly 
six  or  eight  came  in  with  hi  inland,  after  reading  the  pledge 
carefully  to  them,  they  put  their  names  to  it.  I  gave  them  a 
red  ribbon  for  not  drinking,  and  a  blue  one  for  not  smoking 
or  chewing,  and  tied  the  badges  in  their  button-holes. 
These  few  went  out  after  more,  and  they  kept  me  busy  almost 
the  whole  of  Thanksgiving  day,  and  at  night  I  had  on  the  roll 


1  HENRY  A.    REYNOLDS.  871 

about  five  hundred  boys  who  wore  the  badge,  and  dared  to  do 
right. 

"  The  fathers  and  mothers  became  interested  in  the  work, 
and  gave  the  boys  a  grand  reception,  in  the  Opera  House, 
where  over  five  hundred  boys  marched,  with  drums  and  ban- 
ners and  flags,  to  such  a  table  as  they  had  never  before  seen. 
The  musicians  gave  the  boys  a  short  concert,  we  had  a  little 
speaking  and  then  supper. 

"  I  have  had  the  pledge  always  open  for  signers  here  in  the 
city,  and  have  visited  and  helped  to  organize,  in  almost  every 
town  in  the  county,  clubs  of  both  old  and  young  persons,  to 
the  number  of  over  fourteen  hundred  boys  and  girls,  and  hun- 
dreds of  men  and  women.  It  is  a  good  work  to  lift  degraded 
ones  out  of  the  ditch,  and  help  them  to  be  sober  men  and 
women  ;  but  I  love  to  take  these  pure  children,  and  lead  them 
up  into  manhood  without  the  sufferings  which  the  drunkard 
undergoes — for  in  the  children  is  our  country's  hope. 

"  I  remain,  sir,  respectfully  yours, 

"-R.  W.  BOYD." 

Such  was  the  grand  work  of  the  temperance  reformer  in 
Michigan  :  a  work  which  ranks  for  solid  fruits  with,  perhaps, 
any  in  the  history  of  the  movement.  There  were  formed  in  the 
State  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Reynolds  two  hundred  lodges, 
with  a  membership  of  100,000.  .There  were  at  least  200,000 
all  told,  as  nearly  as  we  can  judge  by  the  statistics,  who  were 
influenced  to  forsake  the  evil  habit  of  drinking  and  put  them- 
selves on  the  side  of  right  and  true  manhood.  The  influence 
of  Dr.  Reynolds  proved  a  sure,  strong  anchor,  for  it  trans- 
formed his  converts  into  an  army  of  workers,  who  not  only 
deepened  and  solidified  their  own  reformation,  but  won  over 
others  to  the  good  cause  both  by  the  force  of  precept  and  ex- 
ample. God's  blessing  rested  on  the  efforts  of  the  earnest  mis- 
sionary, and  his  harvest  was  such  as  delighted  and  encouraged 
the  hearts  of  all  that  loved  God  and  humanity. 


872  THE   LIFE  AND   WOKK   OF 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE    TEMPERANCE     WORK    OF   DR.     REYNOLDS    IS    CONTINUED   IN 

ILLINOIS. HIS     EFFORTS     IN      THAT     STATE. THE     CHICAGO 

REVIVAL. FACTS,  SPEECHES,  AND  CHARACTERISTICS    OF  THE 

REYNOLDS    MOVEMENT    IN  THE  PRAIRIE    CITY. CONCLUSION. 

In  the  middle  of  July,  1877,  Dr.  Reynolds  conducted  a  tem- 
perance camp-meeting  on  the  grounds  of  the  Lake  Bluff  Asso- 
ciation of  Illinois,  at  which  were  gathered  many  of  the  most 
prominent  temperance  laborers  of  both  sexes  from  various 
parts  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Michigan  sent  in  a 
roll-call  of  80,000,  who  had  actually  signed  the  pledge,  as  red- 
ribbon  men.  And  there  were  about  200,000  men,  women  and 
children  beside,  who  were  stated  to  have  become  pledge-takers 
under  the  influence  of  the  earnest  reformer. 

At  this  gathering  there  were  such  prominent  and  well-known 
people  as  Francis  Murphy  ;  Rev.  Dr.  Foster  of  Fredericton, 
New  Brunswick  ;  John  Warburton  ;  Miss  Francis  E.  Wil- 
lard  ;  Mrs.  Lathrop  of  Jackson,  Mich.  ;  Mrs.  S.  J.  Rounds  of 
Chicago,  secretary  of  the  Temperance  Union  ;  Mrs.  Youmans 
from  Ontario  ;  Mrs.  Jennie  F.  Willing  ;  and  Mrs.  McGowan, 
the  chaplain  of  the  Cook  county  jail  of  Illinois,  where  she  had 
done  a  great  work  among  the  prisoners.  - 

At  this  camp-meeting  Dr.  Reynolds  delivered  his  views  on 
the  Maine  Liquor  Law  with  considerable  effect.  He  was  asked 
by  some  one  present  if  this  law  was  enforced,  and  in  a  very 
forcible  manner  the  doctor  rejoined  : 

"Yes,  sir.  A  man  who  sells  rum  in  any  form  is  there 
deemed  as  disreputable  as  a  horse-thief,  even  if  he  does  wear 


HENKY    A.    REYNOLDS.  873 

diamonds  on  his  shirt-front,  or  drive  around  in  a  gilded  car- 
riage. Public  opinion  in  favor  of  cold  water  has  been  so 
strengthened  that  the  election  resulted  in  filling  up  the  legis- 
lature last  winter  with  teetotalers,  all  except  ten,  and  now  wine 
and  cider  have  been  added  to  the  prohibited  drinks.  The  law 
is  a  grand  success,  and  all  statements  to  the  contrary  are  worse 
than  nonsense.  Still,  this  law  business  is  not  my  best  hold. 
Till  you  can  reform  public  opinion,  and  get  men  to  hate  rum, 
it  is  of  no  use  to  try  to  get  prohibitory  laws  passed.  As  long 
as  at  the  polls  ballots  are  cast  by  men  who  enjoy  their  morn- 
ing cocktails  and  their  evening  night-caps  we  can't  have  any 
great  temperance  reform  by  law. 

"  When  public  feeling  sends  strong  temperance  men  up  to 
the  legislafive  houses,  then  temperance  laws  will  be  enforced 
to  the  letter." 

The  proposed  "  tapering  off "  of  the  appetite  for  strong 
drink  by  the  use  of  lager-beer,  light  wines,  and  other  bever- 
ages of  a  lighter  character  received  on  this  occasion  a  sharp 
blow  from  the  clever  physician  which  must  have  effectually 
killed  it.  He  said  : 

"  It  is  with  these  drinks,  in  my  opinion,  that  drunkenness 
commences.  Men  do  not  begin  with  fiery,  throat-burning 
whisky,  but  with  cider,  ale,  and  beer.  Beer  is  leading  men  to 
the  drunkard's  gave.  It  takes  longer  for  a  man  to  get  drunk 
on  beer  than  on  rum,  but  it  is  a  worse  sort  of  drunk  when  it 
does  come.  I  know  by  experience.  I  have  been  drunk  on 
every  kind  of  intoxicant  that  was  ever  mixed." 

At  this  meeting  it  was  arranged  that  Dr.  Reynolds,  after 
completing  his  Michigan  labors,  should  go  to  Illinois  and  com- 
mence the  red-ribbon-  reform  in  that  State.  Pursuant  to  his 
steady  plan  of  laboring  in  connection  with  the  Women's  Tem- 
perance Unions.  Dr.  Reynolds  commenced  his  work  at  Cairo, 
the  extreme  southern  point  of  the  State,  his  appointments  hav- 
ing been  made  for  him  by  Mrs.  S.  M.  J.  Henry  of  Rockford,  a 
prominent  and  enthusiastic  laborer  in  the  reform  cause.  His 
efforts  in  that  thriving  little  city,  were  blessed  with  their  usual 


8?4  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

success,  and  Cairo  was  thrown  into  a  ferment  of  the  greatest 
excitement.  Rum-shops  were  closed  up,  liquor-sellers  induced 
to  sign  the  pledge,  arid  a  deep  root  of  truth  and  good  planted 
in  the  heart  of  the  community.  Two  red-ribbon  clubs  were 
formed  with  a  combined  membership  of  nearly  800  members. 
The  churches,  of  course,  took  hold  of  the  movement  with  their 
usual  earnestness,  and  every  religious  influence  was  brought  to 
bear  to  advance  the  labors  of  the  devoted  doctor.  Cairo,  from  its 
peculiar  position  as  the  junction  point  of  two  great  rivers,  and 
its  character  as  a  rendezvous  of  the  numei'ous  boatmen,  pro- 
verbially a  hard-drinking  class,  had  been  from  its  early  settle- 
ment an  unusually  dissipated  and  "hard"  city.  The  effects 
of  the  Reynolds  movement  there  were  such  as  to  establish  a 
new  order  of  things,  and  to  furnish  reasonable  grounds  that 
the  floating  population  of  this  important  river  city,  would 
henceforth  be  of  a  different  character,  and  subjected  to  a  more 
pure  and  blessed  atmosphere  than  of  old.  The  wave  extended 
over  the  State  northwards,  carried  by  Reynolds  and  his  fellow- 
workers,  recruited  from  the  men  and  women  who  had  recently 
signed  the  pledge,  and  found  its  next  great  center  in  the  city 
of  Rockford  in  the  western  part  of  the  State. 

Rockford  again  was  a  field  of  brilliant  triumph,  and  after 
Reynolds'  labors  were  finished  in  the  beautiful  little  capital  of 
the  Fox  river  region,  he  proceeded  to  Chicago,  where  he 
opened  his  labors  under  the  most  favorable  auspices,  churches 
and  the  public  at  large  welcoming  him  with  the  utmost  warmth 
and  enthusiasm,  for  aside  from  sympathy  with  the  objects  of  the 
work,  there  was  the  most  lively  curiosity  to  see  the  man  who 
had  wrought  such  marvellous  things  by  such  simple  means. 

The  Halsted  street  Opera  House  was  crowded  to  hear  Dr. 
Reynolds,  the  first  time  he  stood  before  a  Chicago  audience. 
His  fame  and  his  great  work  had  gone  before  him,  and  an 
immense  concourse  of,  curious  people  filled  the  Opera  House 
to  hear  and  see  what  manner  of  man  he  wa^. 

The  hall  was  decorated  with  evergreens  and  national  flags. 
Several  gospel  songs  were  rendered,  and  then  Mrs.  Camming 


I  HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  875 

opened  the  more  solid  services  with  a  touching  and  appropri- 
ate prayer,  after  which  the  doctor  was  introduced.  The  aud- 
ience gave  him  a  very  cordial  greeting.  He  began  by  saying 
he  wished  his  audience  to  understand .  that  he  did  not  come 
among  them  as  a  temperance  lecturer;  that  he  did  not  come 
before  them  to  act  the  drunkard  and  to  tell  amusing  anecdotes. 
He  came  as  a  plain  man  to  tell  them  a  plain  story.  He  would 
tell  them  what  his  plan  of  work  was  in  saving  men  from  the 
curse  of  the  cup.  He  had  to  say  of  himself  that  he  spoke  of 
what  he  knew.  He  had  himself  once  been  a  victim.  He  had 
tasted  of  the  cup,  not  once,  but  often.  His  plan  was  one  which 
could  take  in  all  sinners,  no  matter  what  denomination  they 
might  belong  to.  He  did  not  believe,  as  did  the  minister  who, 
when  walking  past  a  Catholic  graveyard,  and  while  pointing  to 
the  graves  therein,  said,  "  Every  one  of  those  graves  represents 
a  soul  suffering  the  torments  of  hell."  He  believed  that  the 
members  of  all  religions  had  a  right  to  be  saved  from  the 
terrible  curse  of  strong  drink.  That  was  the  object  of  his  plan 
of  reformation.  He  would  include  all  persons  in  his  system. 
His  plan  was  to  induce  "  all "  to  sign  a  pledge  by  which  they 
should  forswear  the  use,  in  any  form,  of  alcoholic  liquors, 
wines,  malt  liquors,  and  cider — cider  in  any  form.  He  wished 
to  speak  especially  against  the  use  of  cider,  either  by  the 
young  or  grown  person.  Cider  was  the  devil's  kindling  wood. 
He,  himself,  had  first  been  drunk  by  the  use  of  cider,  at  the 
age  of  eight  years,  and  as  drunk  as  he  had  ever  been  by  drink- 
ing whisky  or  wine.  This  evil  of  intemperance  was  not  one 
always  learnt  after  a  person  became  twenty-one  or  twenty-two 
years  old.  It  was  often  found  in  mere  youth.  It  was  often 
commenced  with  the  drinking  of  cider  :  from  the  use  of  cider 
the  youth  went  on  to  the  use  of  home-made  wines — currant 
wine,  rhubarb  wine,  raspberry  wine,  etc.,  which  contained 
fifteen  per  cent  of  alcohol,  and  so  the  drinking  habit  grew  with 
his  age.  He  wanted  specially  to  caution  all  against  the  use  of 
the  innocent  cider — even  sweet  cider.  When  he  had  got 
drunk  on  cider  he  had  ten  times  as  big  a  head  the  next  morn- 


876  THE  LIFE  AKD   WORK   OF 

ing  as  he  used  to  have  after  getting  on  a  big  drunk  on  whisky 
straight.  He  would  next  speak  of  lager  beer.  It  was  the 
great  evil  of  the  West.  Lager  beer  was  the  juggernaut  of  the 
West.  He  would,  himself,  sooner  drink  poor  whisky,  poor 
gin,  poor  rum,  or  poor  brandy,  than  he  would  drink  the  best 
lager  beer  that  was  ever  made.  He  would  drink  poor  whisky 
rather  than  good  lager  beer  because  he  would  live  longer  by 
drinking  the  former,  than  he  would  by  drinking  the  latter. 
He  spoke  from  authority.  He  had  graduated  from  Harvard 
Medical  College,  and  he  knew  of  what  he  spoke  when  he  made 
this  declaration.  He  said  it  from  a  medical  point  of  view. 
Again  he  would  say  of  his  plan,  that  it  was  meant  to  break 
down  the  denominational  lines  in  carrying  on  this  work  of  re- 
forming drunkards.  He  wanted  no  denominational  divisions 
in  this  great  work,  which  should  include  all  men  of  whatever 
sect,  and  those  without  sect.  All  men  needed  saving  from  the 
curse,  and  consequently  all  should  be  included  in  his  move- 
ment— in  hfe  plan  of  reformation.  As  they  did  that  they 
would  succeed  ;  as  they  did  not  do  it  they  would  not  succeed. 
He  himself  had  come  to  the  decision  some  time  ago  that  he 
would  sooner  have  the  red  ribbon  in  hi6  button-hole  than  he 
would  have  it  in  his  nose.  It  was  with  this  idea  in  view,  then, 
that  they  had  chosen  the  plan  of  wearing  the  red  ribbon  in  the 
button-hole.  It  said  of  him  who  wore  it  that  he  was  an  op- 
poser  to  the  use  of  strong  drink  ;  that  he  wore  that  red  ribbon 
as  an  evidence  to  the  world  that  he  was  a  sympathizer  in  the 
"  red-ribbon "  movement,  and  sympathized  with  those  who 
wore  that  same  red  ribbon.  The  idea  of  the  movement 
was  that  all  who  sympathized  with  it  should  wear  the 
red  ribbon  as  a  sign  that  they  sympathized  with  the  move- 
ment, sympathized  with  the  work  of  saving  men  from  the 
curse  of  strong  drink.  The  object  was  to  have  all  wear 
the  red  ribbon  whethsr  drinkers  or  not  ;  that  all  should 
wear  it,  not  necessarily  as  a  sign  that  they  themselves  had 
been  reformed,  but  as  an  encouragement  to  others.  All  should 
be  willing  to  wear  it  who  sympathized  with  the  objects  of  the 


HENRY   A.    REYNOLDS.  877 

order — all  brave  enough  to  do  it.  Let  not  one  pause  from 
wearing  it  because  they  were  afraid  it  would  make  them  too 
conspicuous.  He  would  suggest,  in  conclusion,  to  the  young 
ladies,  that  they  should  ask  their  young  men,  before  they 
offered  to  escort  them  home  :  "  Have  you  signed  the  pledge  ? 
Show  me  your  red  ribbon  !"  and  if  they  did  not  say  that  they 
had  signed  the  pledge,  or  saying  they  had,  could  not  testify  to 
it  by  showing  a  red  ribbon  in  their  button-hole,  tell  them  that 
they  could  not  go  home  with  them  until  they  signed  the  pledge 
and  donned  the  red  ribbon.  The  speaker  himself  would  say 
to  the  young  ladies  that  if  there  were  not  young  men  enough 
left  to  escort  them  home  he  would  do  it  himself ,  though  he  did 
feel  tired  out. 

Messrs.  Barnes,  Parsley  and  Monroe,  all  strong  and  devoted 
advocates  of  total  abstinence,  delivered  short  but  highly  inter- 
esting speeches.  The  first-mentioned  gentleman  stated  that  "  Dr. 
Reynolds  with  his  red-ribbon  movement  had  been  the  means 
of  reforming  some  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  drunkards 
in  the  United  States  since  the  beginning  of  .his  movement." 

Dr.  Reynolds  exhorted  all  present  to  step  forward,  sign  the 
pledge  and  put  on  themselves  the  sign  of  their  sympathy  with 
the  movement.  He  spoke  especially  to  those  who  did  not 
drink.  It  was  their  duty,  in  order  to  show  their  sympathy 
with  the  reformed  ones,  to  uphold  and  encourage  them  in 
their  new  life,  to  wear  the  red  ribbon.  He  invited  all  to  ap- 
proach the  pledge-tables,  sign  the  pledge,  and  to  attach  to 
their  button-holes  the  red  ribbon,  which  they  all  did,  or  nearly 
so,  unanimously.  Those  who  did  not  start  to  the  tables  were 
persuaded  or  compelled  into  so  doing  by  the  more  enthusiastic. 
Fully  two  hundi-ed  men,  and  thirty  women,  signed  the  pledge 
and  assumed  the  Reynolds  badge. 

The  second  Reynolds  meeting  was  held  at  the  hall  on  the 
corner  of  Halsted  street  and  Blue  Island  avenue.  The  attend- 
ance was  very  large  and  enthusiastic.  Announcements  of 
future  meetings  were  made,  and  the  doctor  announced  that  a 
Reform  Club  would  be  organized. 


878  THE   LIFE  AND   WOEK   OF 

He  then  began  his  address,  which  was  interesting  and  stir- 
ring, and  said  that  he  had  told  them  on  the  previous  evening 
all  about  cider  being  the  devil's  kindling-wood ;  the  homely 
imp  of  native  wines  ;  the  gorgeously-named  beverages  of  the 
gilded  sample-room.  He  would  now  say  of  himself,  that  he 
had  been  a  drunkard  for  ten  years.  Four  years  ago  he  had 
been  in-  the  gutter ;  he  had  suffered  the  torments  of  the 
damned  ;  he  had  not  had  a  shirt  to  his  back  ;  he  did  not  own 
a  coat  ;  he  was  a  confirmed  sot.  During  the  time  of  his 
drunkenness  he  had  frequently  had  delirium  tremens.  It  was 
then  that  he  had  suffered  so  for  hours  that  he  would  rather 
die  in  preference  to  suffering  such  pains  again.  He  had  come 
from  New  England.  There  he  had  been  brought  up  among 
the  orthodox.  He  had  been  taught  in  the  orthodox  ways  of 
New  England  ;  was  pious,  good,  straightlaced.  But  he  began 
to  drink.  He  soon  after  became  a  drunkard.  But  what  did 
the  orthodox  say  to  him  when  they  saw  him  ?  They  did  not 
try  to  lead  him  away.  They  did  not  say  encouraging  words 
to  him.  They  would  have  let  him  go  to  the  devil.  They 
turned  the  cold  shoulder,  and  invited  him  simply  either  to  quit 
drinking  or  to  go  to  the  dogs,  as  he  liked.  A  temperance 
movement  among  the  women  commenced  in  Ohio;  and  here 
he  would  say  a  word  for  women.  It  was  a  false  notion  to 
think  that  women  were  only  meant  as  things  to  wash  dishes 
and  sew  clothes.  Their  work  was  to  save  men.  At  last,  the 
movement,  which  had  spread  from  Ohio,  arrived  at  Bangor, 
Me.,  where  it  was  said  they  pried  up  the  Sunday  with  a  crow- 
bar. Though  he  had  been  brought  up  as  an  orthodox  Chris- 
tian, he  swore  at  the  women  and  cursed  them.  He  Avent  on 
from  bad  to  worse,  but  still  the  women  went  on  working  as 
hard  as  ever,  and  finally  he  was  saved.  He  signed  the  pledge. 
He  went  to  the  much-despised  temperance  meeting  and  signed 
the  pledge  never  to  servjB  King  Alcohol.  That  was  four  years 
ago,  and  he  had  kept  his  pledge.  He  had  kept  the  first  part 
of  his  pledge,  to  abstain  from  strong  drink.  He  had,  secondly, 
abstained  from  using  as  a  social  drink,  for  pleasure,  alcoholic 


HENKY   A.    KEYNOLDS.  879 

liquors.  In  the  third  point,  he  had  kept  his  pledge,  to  do  what 
he  could,  with  the  help  of  God,  in  the  way  of  inducing  other 
men  to  abstain  from  the  use  of  strong  drink — to  be  a  man 
among  men.  He  wanted  men  to  help  others  as  well  as  them- 
selves. He  had  not  himself  at  first  thought  of  doing  as  he 
had  done,  but  he  finally  thought  that  it  was  his  duty  to  do  as 
he  was  doing.  As  to  the  red  ribbon,  it  was  a  part  of  his 
make-up.  The  red  ribbon  had  piloted  him  into  the  hearts  of 
thousands  of  men.  His  red  ribbon  did  not  advertise  him  as  a 
reformed  drunkard.  If  it  did,  he  would  rather  be  recognized 
as  a  reformed  drunkard  than  as  a  confirmed  drunkard.  As  to 
the  character  of  drunkards,  he  would  say  that  nearly  all  drunk- 
ards were  good  men.  He  never  knew  of  a  drunkard  who  was 
an  absolutely  mean  man.  The  red  ribbon  was  a  badge  of 
honor.  Its  color  was  not  a  very  bad  color.  It  was  emblem- 
atic of  that  which  would  save  them.  He  would  ask  to  be 
excused  for  speaking  so  long,  but  it  was  not  late  to  hold  a 
meeting  till  2  o'clock.  He  hoped  it  would  get  so  hot  in  Chi- 
cago before  long  that  people  would  not  venture  to  go  to  a 
meeting  without  carrying  a  lunch  along  with  them. 

The  doctor  then  explained  that  ladies  should  wear  a  white 
ribbon  upon  the  right  shoulder,  in  front,  in  the  form  of  a  bow, 
and  gentlemen  should  wear  a  red  ribbon  tied  in  the  top  button- 
hole on  the  left  collar  of  the  coat,  and  all  should  wear  the 
ribbon,  not  only  then,  but  all  the  time. 

Dr.  Reynolds  further  remarked  that  his  movement  was  a 
democratic  movement.  "  The  workingmen  were  the  bone  and 
sinew  of  the  country,  and  they  were  the  bone  and  sinew  too, 
of  the  saloons." 

The  Doxology  was  then  sung,  and  the  crowd  gathered 
around  the  pledge-table,  and  signed  the  pledges  by  the  score, 
about  two  hundred  and  twenty-four  having  signed  the 
pledge  during  the  course  of  the  evening. 

The  next  meeting  was  held  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Yonker's  Taber- 
nacle. The  services  were  very  appropriately  opened  by  the 
singing  of  that  poetic  gospel  song  of  "The  Morning  Light  is 


Breaking,"  after  which  the  well  known  and  ever-interesting 
parable  of  the  prodigal  son  was  read  by  Dr.  Reynolds,  who 
took  the  opportunity  of  the  text  to  compare  the  condition  of 
the  young  man  who  ate  the  husks  that  the  swine  had  left  to 
the  young  men  of  these  modern  times  who  are  now  eating  the 
husks  of  that  nothingness  which  the  red  juice  has  produced; 
who  through  whisky  have  lost  all  the  means  of  leading  a  free 
and  honorable  life — food,  clothing,  friends,  and  best  of  all, 
self-respect. 

Mrs.  Carse,  th,e  president  of  the  Women's  Christian  Tem- 
perance Union  of  Chicago,  was  introduced  at  this  meeting  and 
received  a  warm  welcome.  She  spoke  of  the  life-saving  sta- 
tions which  are  scattered  around  our  seaboard,  and  which  do 
such  good  service.  She  compared  these  life-saving  stations 
to  the  life-saving  societies  of  the  Women's  Christian  Temper- 
ance Unions  of  America,  which  had  established  soul-saving 
institutions — the  best  of  life-saving  stations — in  every  city  in 
the  land. 

At  a  grand  union  temperance  meeting,  held  at  the  Union 
Park  Congregational  Church,  Dr.  Reynolds  said  they  had  come 
together  for  the  purpose  of  doing  something.  They  had  not 
come  for  enjoyment,  but  they  had  come  to  see  if  the  hundreds 
of  people  present  would  not  testify  their  love  for  temperance 
by  wearing  a  little  piece  of  ribbon — red  for  the  men  and  white 
for  the  women,  and  red  and  white  for  the  children.  He  said 
he  would  tell  them  how  he  became  a  drunkard.  First,  he  was 
a  drunkard  by  inheritance,  and  had  his  parents  done  their 
duty,  and  kept  from  him  all  manner  of  drinks,  he  would  never 
have  been  a  drunkard.  The  second  step  toward  drunkenness 
he  had  taken  was  when  he  first  sipped  that  drink  that  he  called 
the ''devil's  kindling  wood."  There  are  thousands  of  ladies 
who  will  drink  nothing  stronger  than  cider,  but  they  are  not 
aware  of  the  evil  that  exists  in  this  juice  of  the  apple.  Many 
good  people  will  not  sign  his  ironclad  pledge  because  he  included 
in  it  cider.  They  all  say  that  there  can  be  no  harm  in  sweet 
cider,  and  possibly  there  may  be  no  harm  in  sweet  cider  ;  but 


HENRY   A.  REYNOLDS.  881 

cider  is  not  made  from  good  apples.  The  farmer  brings  to 
the  market  all  the  sound  apples,  and  then  makes  cider  from 
the  decayed  ones,  and  from  these  rotten  apples  is  made  the 
liquor  that  fastidious  ladies  and  gentlemen  drink.  Do  they 
for  a  moment  think  that  this  cider  is  made  from  rotten  apples 
and  worms?  He  then  spoke  of  currant  wine,  and  claimed  that 
it  produced  in  the  little  ones  a  desire  for  stronger  drink.  The 
next  step  was  the  one  that  is  the  curse  of  the  West.  Lager 
beer,  he  said,  was  causing  more  hearts  to  ache  than  perhaps 
any  other  liquid.  The  doctor  looks  upon  this  German  drink 
as  the  most  dangerous  of  all,  for  Che  reason  that  thousands  of 
young  men  drink  it  because  it  is  not  considered  dangerous. 
It  has  a  pleasant,  bitter  taste,  and  many  would  drink  it  who 
would  not  dare  to  touch  whisky  or  brandy.  The  next  step  in 
the  downward  path,  he  maintained,  is  the  gilded  palaces  of 
sin.  These  places  are  made  very  attractive,  and  from  them 
came  the  hardest  cases  of  drunkenness  that  he  had  ever  seen. 
The  foundation  of  drunkenness  is  made  long  before  a  person 
is  2 1  years  old.  The  appetite  is  formed  when  the  person  is 
yet  a  child.  Drunkards  are  not  the  curse  of  a  community. 
It  is  your  moderate  man  who  causes  all  the  evil  that  exists. 
When  a  boy  sees  a  .man  reeling  about  the  street  in  a  beastly 
state  of  intoxication  he  does  not  say,  "  I  will  be  like  that  man," 
but  when  he  sees  the  moderate  drinker,  who  never  appears  to 
be  drunk,  he  says,  "  I  will  be  like  that  man.  If  I  wish  a  drink 
I  will  take  it,  but  I  will  never  be  a  drunkard."  Poor  boy,  he 
little  knows  what  he  is  saying.  It  will  be  only  a  few  years 
before  he  is  a  curse  to  himself  and  the  cause  of  much  misery 
to  those  who  love  and  cherish  him.  He  then  spoke  of  a  man 
who  is  dear  to  the  heart  of  every  son  of  Illinois.  He  said  : 
"  Look  at  the  life  of  Dick  Yates,  a  man  who  should  have  been 
at  the  head  of  the  United  States  government,  and  would  have 
been  had  it  not  been  for  his  unfortunate  taste  for  liquor. 
Look  at  this  great  man  at  Washington,  a  great  senator.  Look 
at  him  at  Jacksonville,  kicked  out  of  a  saloon.  Look  at  him 
at  St.  Louis,  where  he  died  a  raving  maniac.  Do  you  think 


882  THE   LIFE   A1STD    WORK   OF 

his  life  was  a  happy  one  ?  He  died  a  drunkard's  death,  and 
he  passed  into  a  drunkard's  eternity,  and  you  all  know  what  a 
drunkard's  eternity  is.  The  Bible  says  a  drunkard  can  never 
enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  I  believe  the  Bible." 

On  another  occasion  at  a  red-ribbon  meeting,  held  in  St. 
Paul's  Methodist  Church,  Mr.  John  Monroe,  the  president  of 
the  club,  opened  the  meeting  by  saying  that  he  supposed 
nearly  all  present  were  temperance  people,  and  that  the  object 
of  the  meeting  was  to  raise  up  missionaries  who  would  go 
into  the  field  and  work  for  the  rescue  of  their  fellow-men. 
The  evils  of  intemperance  he  attributed  to  three  causes, 
namely  :  The  social  circle,  the  church,  and  the  government. 
The  social  and  family  circles  he  reproved  for  the  leniency  in 
regard  to  the  use  of  cider  and  wines.  The  church,  for  toler- 
ating within  its  walls  members  who  do  not  adhere  to  the 
principles  of  temperance,  and  preachers  for  not  .more  fre- 
quently portraying  intemperance  as  a  great  sin.  The  govern- 
ment, he  said,  was  also  greatly  in  fault  for  licensing  saloons  ; 
for  licensing  the  manufacture  of  liquor  and  for  issuing  whisky 
to  soldiers,  which  he  thought  was  certainly  very  injudicious, 
as  any  one  might  see  who  would  trace  its  results  during  and 
after  the  rebellion.  The  cheap  lunches  offered  in  the  saloons 
are  a  great  evil.  Many  go  in,  not  so  much  for  something  to 
drink,  but  to  get  something  to  eat.  There  are  2,000  men,  he 
said,  in  this  city,  who  are  out  of  employment.  Something 
must  be  done,  and  he  thought  that  if  saloon-keepers  could 
give  men  a  glass  of  beer  and  a  dish  of  soup  for  five  cents, 
there  certainly  could  be  places  established  where  the  latter 
could  be  furnished  for.  the  same  sum.  This,  in  any  event,  he 
said,  should  be  done  at  once,  and  if  it  could  not  be  made  self- 
supporting  he  thought  the  people  of  Chicago  would  not  hesi- 
tate to  make  up  the  small  deficiency. 

The  W abash  Avenue  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  contained 
a  dense  throng  one  evening  to  hear  Dr.  Reynolds.  The 
assemblage  included  .every  variety  of  the  red-ribbon  advocate, 
and  many  who  were  willing,  from  various  causes,  to  wear  the 


HENRY  A.  REYNOLDS.  883 

symbolic  cardinal  emblem.  There  was  a  large  number  of  men 
present,  rough  in  dress  and  addicted  to  strong  drink,  but  who, 
nevertheless,  were  awakened  to  the  degrading  position  they 
had  been  occupying.  The  meeting  was  opened  with  praying 
and  singing,  after  which  Dr.  Reynolds  addressed  the  audience. 
He  chose  for  his  subject  the  story  of  the  Good- Samaritan,  and 
deducted  therefrom  an  interesting  temperance  lesson.  Dr. 
Reynolds  is  not  a  lecturer,  but  rather,  as  he  claims,  "  one  of 
the  boys,"  only  that  now  he  is  on  the  right  side,  when  before 
he  was  on  the  wrong  side.  The  "  falling  of  the  man  among 
thieves,"  as  in  the  story  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  hev  likened  to 
the  man  who  fell  among  the  rum-sellers.  The  rum-seller  is  the 
worst  kind  of  a  thief,  for  he  not  only  robs  man  of  his  money, 
of  the  comfort  of  his  home,  but  also  takes  from  him  the  char- 
acter and  honor  which  every  man  has  naturally  in  his  system. 
lie  wanted  his  hearers  to  think  only  of  his  efforts  as  those  of 
a  Good  Samaritan  who  came  before  them  only  to  show  them 
the  way  to  recover  from  the  influence  and  its  accompanying 
injuries,  consequent  upon  their  falling  among  the  thieves  of 
manhood  and  the  scourges  of  society,  in  which  class  the  rum- 
seller  is  the  most  dangerous.  He  begged  his  hearers,  then,  to 
put  on  the  red  ribbon,  and  by  their  good  example  bring  into 
the  band  of  temperance  men  many  friends  who  would  not 
otherwise  join. 

He  explained  the  manner  of  organizing  reform  clubs,  and 
read  the  pledge,  stating  that  in  the  club  only  men  Avere 
allowed  to  sign  the  pledge.  The  reform  was  men's  work,  and 
not  boy's  play.  He  then  gave  a  history  of  the  movement,  of 
which  he  had  the  honor  to  be  the  originator.  Originally  only 
reformed  drunkards  were  allowed  to  become  members  of  the 
clubs,  but  latterly  he  has  found  it  much  more  just  and  equitable 
to  allow  men  of  temperance  principles  to  become  members. 
He  then  branched  off  into  a  history  of  that  portion  of  his  life 
when  he  was  dancing  on  the  road  to  the  devil.  It  was  the 
wrong  way,  but  he  had  eventually  struck  the  right  path,  and 
he  felt  well  pleased  with  his  "  right  about  face,"  as  he  called 


884  THE   LIFE  AND  WOEK  OF 

it.  He  did  not  think  it  necessary  to  tell  any  man  that  strong 
drink  was  injurious  ;  the  worst  drunkard  in  the  country  will 
admit  it.  The  man  that  signs  this  pledge  cannot  become  a 
drunkard  in  the  world,  if  the  signer  keeps  it,  while  there  are 
many  kinds  of  pledges  which  cannot  prevent  drunkenness,  if 
lived  up  to  strictly.  The  details  of  organizing  a  reform  club 
were  then  explained.  In  explaining  some  of  the  rules  regard- 
ing members  who  have  violated  their  pledges,  the  singular 
benefits  of  reform  clubs  was  shown  by  the  statement  that  of 
all  the  members  of  reform  clubs  in  the  Union,  only  15  per  cent, 
of  them  ever  violated  their  pledges.  The  reason  saloon- 
keepers are  not  generally  drunkards  is  because  their  business 
of  fleecing  men  requires  them  to  be  cool-headed  men,  and  no 
cool-headed  man  with  his  own  interest  at  heart  will  drink. 
He  asked  his  listeners  to  sign  the  pledge,  and  when  they  go, 
take  a  pledge  with  space  for  twelve  signers  on  it,  and  get  their 
friends  whom  they  might  meet  on  the  street,  in  the  counting- 
room,  or  store,  jand  even  seek  them  in  their  homes  or  resorts, 
to  become  members.  He  spoke  of  a  grand  parade  of  red, 
white  and  blue  ribbonites  at  some  time  in  the  future,  but  with- 
held the  full  particulars  because  of  the  presence  of  reporters. 
He  concluded  by  requesting  every  one  who  had  not  already 
signed  the  pledge  to  come  forward  and  do  so. 

Over  thirty  drinking  men  came  forward  and  signed  the  pledge. 

Mr.  Barnes,  one  of  the  vice-presidents  of  the  first  Red-Rib- 
bon Club,  then  addressed  the  meeting,  and  said  that  there 
were  fifty  men  who  ought  to  sign.  He  called  their  attention 
to  the  fact  that,  as  Doc  Woods  expresses  it,  every  bottle  of 
whisky — yea,  every  drop — contained  myriads  of  little  devils, 
and  once  the  man  became  possessed  of  them,  he  wanted  to 
fight  and  quarrel — in  fact  raise  a  little  hell  to  accommodate 
them.  He  was  not  a  reformed  drunkard,  because  he  had  never 
cared  for  it  ;  but  he  saw  in  the  movement,  by  a  general  sup- 
port of  every  man  of  temperance  principles,  an  opportunity  to 
encourage  the  men  who  need  some  such  reform'  movement. 

Mr.  J.  H.  "Wood  of  the   stock  yards  was  then  introduced. 


HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  885 

John  is  well  known  on  the  South  Side,  and,  as  he  admitted,  his 
acquaintance  with  South  Side  saloon-keepers  was  quite  exten- 
sive. He  had  tried  drinking  for  twelve  years,  and  he  was  not 
the  better  for  it  in  any  way.  He  took  the  pledge  the  other 
night,  and  some  said  he  would  have  hard  work  to  keep  it,  but 
it  was  the  reverse,  because  any  man  who  takes  the  pledge 
earnestly  will  never  become  dry. 

A  special  meeting  was  held  at  Carpenter  Hall  to  hear  E.  C. 
Cremieux,  the  reformed  drunkard,  popularly  known  as  "  Bit- 
ters," deliver  a  temperance  address.  In  his  address  the 
speaker  pointed  out  and  illustrated  at  some  len-gth  the  fact 
that  men  addicted  to  the  use  of  strong  drink  were  bowed  down 
in  a  slavery  worse  than  were  the  colored  people  of  the  South 
before  the  war. 

At  a  meeting  conducted  by  Mr.  John  Monroe,  it  was  an- 
nounced that  since  the  advent  of  Dr.  Reynolds  twelve  thou- 
sand persons  had  taken  the  total  abstinence  pledge  in  the  city 
of  Chicago,  and  there  was  ground  of  opinion  that  as  many 
more  would  join  the  red-ribbon  cause  before  the  Reynolds 
series  of  meetings  closed,  and  the  doctor  departed  for  new 
fields  of  labor. 

At  a  woman's  meeting  held  in  the  Union  Square  Church 
under  the  auspices  of  the  Women's  Christian  Temperance 
Union,  Mrs.  Carse,  the  president,  read  a  report  of  the  saloon- 
keepers' meeting,  as  published  in  one  of  the  morning  papers. 
She  commented  on  the  meaning  of  the  meeting.  There  were 
only  thirty  saloon-keepers  present,  but  it  represented  3,000 
others  backing  them.  She  found  consolation  in  the  fact  that 
they  were  fighting  the  battle  of  the  Lord,  and  were  not  dis- 
mayed, even  though  every  whisky-seller  in  Chicago,  with  all 
their  political  influence  and  money,  Avere  to  combine  against 
them.  The  war  was  commenced  four  years  ago  in  Ohio  by 
the  crusaders,  and  it  would  not  cease  till  the  great  fiend  of  in- 
temperance had  been  abolished  and  his  reign  forever  closed. 
She  begged  all  her  hearers  to  come  out  and  fight  for  the  cause 
of  the  Lord,  and  put  on  the  temperance  ribbon. 


886  THE    LIFE   AND   WORK   OF 

After  an  earnest  temperance  prayer  by  Mrs.  Hogan,  an 
address  on  temperance  was  made  by  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Thomp- 
son. He  had  also  read  of  the  saloon-keepers'  meeting,  and  he 
was  glad  of  it,  for  it  told  him  that  if  the  devil  is  not  dead,  it 
is  spared.  He  had  also  noted  that  there  were  more  saloon- 
keepers going  into  bankruptcy  than  in  any  other  business  ;  and 
that  furthermore,  they  were  reducing  the  price  of  their  drinks. 
It  was  a  good  omen,  and  showed  that  the  temperance  move- 
ment was  surely  growing,  and  the  time  is  not  far  off  when 
every  one  will  be  a  temperance  man,  directly  or  indirectly, 
except  the  saloon-keeper,  and  even  he  would  come  in  when  he 
saw  the  great  wrongs  he  had  been  doing.  The  saloon-keeping 
interest  was  a  most  painful  one,  but  there  was  a  power  over  all 
which  is  Almighty.  The  cause  of  temperance  is  the  cause  of 
God,  that  Almighty  power,  and,  though  the  saloon-keepers 
resist,  they  must  finally  succumb. 

At  one  of  the  meetings  a  gentleman  in  the  audience  with  a 
strong  Swedish  accent,  got  up  and  made  a  few  forcible  re- 
marks. 

He  said  he  came  from  a  country  where  drinking  was  a 
common  vice,  and  that  he  knew  something  of  its  evils.  He 
then  told  his  brief  experience  with  these  evils.  He  impressed 
upon  the  ladies  present  to  marry  only  temperance  men.  He 
was  a  married  man  himself,  but  he  wanted  to  shut  out  all  the 
young  men  who  drink  by  organizing  a  ladies'  temperance 
league,  the  principles  of  which  would  be  to  associate  with  no 
gentlemen  who  drank  spirituous  liquors. 

The  Rev.  W.  F.  Crafts  said  that  he  and  a  friend  had  been 
many  times  taken  for  reformed  drunkards  because  they  wore 
the  red  ribbon,  which  he  enjoyed  hugely.  He  said  he  was  not 
afraid  to  "  do  right,"  and  he  wanted  his  listeners  to  do  like- 
wise. "The  red  ribbon,"  he  said,  "was  not  the  badge  of  a 
reformed  drunkard.  It  was  the  emblem  which  told  the  world 
that  the  wearer  was  a  '  total  abstinence  '  man  ;  nothing  more 
and  nothing  less  than  that !" 

Mr.  Hines  acknowledged  that  he  stood  there  before  the  au- 


HE1STRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  887 

dience  a  redeemed  man.  He  had  tried  all  sorts  of  plans  to 
reform,  but  if  it  had  not  been  for  Christ  he  would  have  been 
a  drunkard  still. 

Mr.  Carpenter,  a  very  young  man,  said  he  began  to  drink 
when  a  mere  school  boy.  He  had  been  a  hard  drinker  for 
fully  eleven  years.  He  had  been  to  the  Washingtonian  Home, 
but  broke  out  again.  He  attributed  his  conversion  to  prayer. 
His  trust  was  in  Jesus. 

W.  II.  Murray,  a  converted  member  of  the  Chicago  Board 
of  Trade,  said  at  one  of  the  meetings,  he  had  been  a  drinker 
for  twenty  years.  He  was  now  redeemed  ;  but,  as  other 
brothers  had  remarked  before  him,  the  only  cure  for  drunken- 
ness was  the  blood  of  Christ.  He  had  tried  all  other  means 
and  failed,  and  it  was  not  until  he  went  to  the  throne  of  God 
and  obtained  the  love  of  Jesus  that  he  became  firm.  It  was 
his  anchor  and  his  hope.  Without  it  no  man  could  become 
thoroughly  reformed. 

Mr.  Braizer  said  it  was  no  pleasant  thing  to  get  up  and  tell 
the  public  he  had  been  a  drinking  man,  and  indeed  he  would 
not  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  in  so  doing  he  might  be  of 
benefit  to  others.  He  said  he  was  converted  through  faith'  in 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  He  stood  there  that  night  buoyed  up 
and  sustained  by  the  Lord,  and  he  owed  his  reform  to  God  and 
not  to  himself. 

Mr.  J.  H.  Wood,  of  the  firm  of  Wood  Brothers,  of  the  stock 
yards,  brought  all  his  brothers,  their  sons,  and  all  their  employ- 
ees, thirty-nine  in  number,  one  evening  to  the  meeting,  who 
signed  the  pledge  in  a  body.  In  bringing  his  company  into 
the  red-ribbon  line,  he  made  a  characteristic  speech,  in  which  he 
stated  that  he  had  been  a  drinker  all  his  life,  and  he  was  glad 
now  to  become  a  temperance  man. 

Mr.  Fuller,  a  rescued  man,  was  introduced  at  a  meeting,  and 
related  his  experiences  in  a  touching  manner.  It  was  for 
about  twenty-one  years  that  he  was  addicted  to  the  use  of 
intoxicating  drinks.  In  1857  he  learnt  to  drink  in  Chicago. 
Here  he  learned,  and  here  he  renounced  his  acquaintace  with 


888  THE   LIFE  AND   WORK  OF 

intemperance.  He  took  the  pledge  several  weeks  ago,  but  it 
was  one  with  himself.  About  three  weeks  ago  he  joined  the 
Reynolds  movement,  and  was  decorated  with  the  red  ribbon. 
It  was  a  terrible  sti  aggie  to  resist  the  appetite  long  catered  to; 
but,  thanks  to  the  help  of  God,  whom  he  solicited  in  prayer,  he 
became  successful,  and  can  now  maintain  his  integrity. 

Colonel  Dillon  said  at  one  of  the  meetings  that  he  had  been 
a  drinking  man,  and,  now  that  he  had  stopped  he  was  not 
ashamed  to  own  it.  He  had  formerly  represented  our  country 
in  a  foreign  land,  and,  notwithstanding  all  the  honors  heaped 
upon  him,  he  became  a  drunkard.  He  said  he  associated 
continually  with  politicians,  and  gave  as  his  belief  that  no  man 
could  continually  associate  with  politicians  without  becoming- 
depraved.  He  said  that  prayer  saved  him  from  drunkenness. 

Mr.  Swallow  said  at  a  meeting  that  he  had  drank  a  good 
deal  of  whisky  for  twenty  years.  When  he  started  he 
deluded  himself  into  the  belief  that  he  could  stop  when  he 
wanted  to  resist  the  appetite,  until  a  year  ago  he  became  posi- 
tively alarmed.  A  friend  asked  him  to  come  and  take  the  red 
ribbon,  and  a  thought  struck  him  that  it  was  the  right  time, 
and  he  signed  the  Reynolds  pledge. 

Thomas  M.  Conpropst  on  being  introduced  to  the  audience 
urged,  from  sad  experience,  the  necessity  of  total  abstinence 
on  the  part  of  any  one  whose  appetite  was  in  the  least  degree 
perverted.  As  to  happiness,  he  considered  sobriety  one  of  the 
essential  avenues  that  lead  to  its  attainment.  The  advantages 
of  signing  a  pledge  and  of  making  a  public  confession,  he 
thought,  were  beneficial  to  the  extent  that  by  so  doing  one  is 
charged  with  personal  self-respect,  a  very  necessary  quality, 
and  not  infrequently  the  most  efficient  fulcrum  against  which 
the  lever  of  reform  could  be  brought  to  bear. 

Mrs.  Helen  M.  Dunks,  of  Hudson,  obtained  a  judgment  for 
$3,600  against  William  Friend,  a  wealthy  liquor-seller.  Her 
husband,  a  well-to-do  manufacturing  chemist,  well  known  in 
the  West,  became  a  frequenter  of  Friend's  saloon,  and  in  au 


HENKY    A.    EEYNOLDS.  889 

incredibly  short  time  was  completely  ruined  in  body,  business, 
and  mind,  from  drink. 

Mr.  W.  O.  Lattimore,  a  lawyer,  said  his  conversion  took 
place  a  year  ago  last  Thanksgiving.  He  said  it  w*as  a  very 
difficult  task  to  become  a  temperate  man  by  will-power,  un- 
aided by  the  assistance  of  the  Lord.  His  own  conversion  was 
largely  brought  about  through  the  assistance  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  who  was  ready  to  receive  all  sinnei'S,  and  from  the  day 
he  had  accepted  Christ  he  had  had  no  further  difficulty  in 
struggling  against  his  appetite  for  strong  drink.  He  exhorted 
the  drinking  men  to  repent  and  accept  the  gospel,  and  thereby 
being  joy  and  peace  to  many  desolate  homes.  God  did  not 
force  any  one  to  come.  If  they  choose  to  come  unto  Him  He 
is  ready  to  receive  them. 

The  evening  of  February  1  saw  an  immense  crowd  in  the 
Methodist  Church,  corner  of  Langley  avenue  and  Thirty-ninth 
street.  The  edifice  was  crowded  in  every  part,  and  the  exer- 
cises were  of  a  very  interesting  character.  After  the  singing 
of  several  stirring  hymns,  and  an  earnest  prayer  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Glendenning,  Dr.  Reynolds  informed  the  audience  that  he 
had  not  come  before  them  to  relate  f uriuy  stories,  or  to  make 
exhibitions  of  the  unfortunate  drunkard.  The  subject,  he 
said,  should  be  treated  with  a  great  degree  of  sympathy,  and 
every  individual  as  a  brother  or  sister.  No  one  so  much 
appreciates  sympathy  as  a  drunkard.  His  own  fall  he  attrib- 
uted to  hereditary  causes,  and  gave  an  account  of  how  he  be- 
came a  drunkard  by  the  use  of  what  are  called  innocent 
drinks,  namely,  cider  and  wines — adding  that  few  people  are 
aware  of  the"  insidious  influences  attending  their  use,  and  said 
that  a  cup  of  cider  would  have  the  same  effect  on  a  child  that 
the  same  quantity  of  whisky  would  have  on  an  adult.  He 
then  spoke  of  the  suffering  he  had  endured,  and  having  squan- 
dered $30,000  in  a  short  time  by  means  of  the  great  destroyer. 
One  of  the  important  clauses  of  the  pledge  he  uses  was  that 
which  referred  to  man's  inability  to  save  himself  ;  another 
was  that  which  referred  to  the  use  of  moderate  drinks.  High- 
38 


890  THE    LIFE  AND   WORK   OF 

class  saloons,  he  thought,  were  more  injurious  than  those  of  a 
lower  order.  The  one  was  the  beginning  of  a  man's  downfall, 
the  other  ended  his  career.  The  prospects  for  a  good  temper- 
ance wave  in  this  city,  he  thought,  were  becoming  quite  ap- 
parent. One  reformed  drunkard,  he  said,  had  already  pro- 
cured twenty-six  names  to  the  pledge.  Several  other  speakers 
then  addressed  the  meeting,  and  expressed  a  determination  to 
continue  the  undertaking. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  meetings  held  by  the  doctor  was 
that  in  the  Centenary  Church,  corner  of  Monroe  and  Morgan 
streets.  The  building  was  crowded  almost  to  suffocation,  and 
a  great  number  of  people  were  obliged  to  turn  away  from  the 
doors,  disappointed  at  not  being  accommodated  with  seats,  or 
at  least  with  standing  room,  both  of  which  were  entirely  and 
absolutely  out  of  the  question. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Thomas  introduced  the  advocate  of  the  red 
ribbon  in  a  pithy  and  pleasing  manner,  and  the  immense  audi- 
ence greeted  Dr.  Reynolds  in  the  most  enthusiastic  fashion 
imaginable.  He  was  obliged  to  stand  before  them  some 
seconds  bowing  his  thanks  for  their  kind  welcome.  He  did 
not  deliver  what  could  be  properly  called  a  lecture  ;  but  he 
spoke  in  a  very  felicitous  vein. 

He  began  by  remarking  that  he  never  delivered  a  lecture  in 
his  life,  and  the  many  who  came  there  to  hear  him  he  must 
disappoint  in  not  delivering  a  lecture.  His  aim  was  to  induce 
men  to  leave  the  ways  of  drunkenness,  and  his  work  was  to 
reform  men,  not  to  interest  them  only  with  lectures.  He 
stated  his  intention  to  speak  from  experience,  as  for  six  years 
he  had  been  a  confirmed  drunkard.  He  knew  what  the  drunk- 
ards had  to  do  to  recover  their  manhood  lost  in  drink,  and, 
judging  from  the  lessons  of  his  own  life  when  a  drunkard,  he 
certainly  had  experienced  all  the  evils  of  intemperance.  He 
related  them  in  his  own  characteristic  manner,  laying  particu- 
lar stress  on  the  beginning  of  an  intemperate  life,  for  which 
cider,  he  said^  was  the  favorite  opening  wedge.  Cider  is  the 
devil's  kindling-wood,  and  from  it  is  started  the  fire  which 


HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS.  891 

afterward  consumes  the  body.  He  showed  in  a  plain,  matter- 
of-fact  way  that  there  was  much  of  the  element  of  danger, 
alcohol,  in  cider,  and  consequently  it  was  as  much  of  an  evil 
as  even  stronger  drink.  After  it  came  the  American  currant 
wine,  when  the  beginner  found  that  cider  was  not  potent 
enough  to  satisfy  the  appetite  started  by  the  "  devil's  kindling- 
wood."  They  drink  it  under  the  impression  that  it  is  a  more 
elegant  drink  than  cider  and  not  because  it  is  the  demand  of  the 
appetite.  He  then  referred  to  what  he  called  the  curse  of  the 
West,  meaning  lager  beer.  He  gave  a  few  statistics  regarding 
beer,  its  alcoholic  qualities,  and  its  patrons,  who  number  200,- 
000  drinkers,  and  imagine  it  is  a  healthy  drink  or  do  it  because 
they  like  it.  The  former  reason  is  a  false  .one,  for  there  was 
not  a  doctor  in  the  city  or  country  but  will  say  it  is  a  stimu- 
lant and  not  a  health-giving  drink.  He  then  referred  to  the 
gilded  hells  in  the  city  and  imitations  in  the  little  country 
town.  Pie  informed  his  readers  it  was  not  neccessary  to  look 
into  "  Hell's  Half-acre,"  to  find  the  evils  of  drink  or  to  find 
the  intemperate  guzzler.  They  can  be  found  even  in  society, 
and  their  resorts  will  be  found  occupying  valuable  space  in 
prominent  business  blocks,  and  in  many  cases  in  the  center  of 
the  best  neighborhoods.  They  were  finely  furnished  saloons, 
or,  as  they  call  them,  "  parlors,"  and  truly  they  were  the  par- 
lors of  the  devil,  where  the  mint  julep,  the  "  Tom  and  Jerry," 
brandy  smashes,  and  other  detestable  concoctions  were  daily 
and  hourly,  even  every  second,  passed  over  the  counter  to  the 
foolish  young  men,  and  even  old  men.  They  did  not  drink 
because  they  had  a  great  liking  for  it,  but  rather  because  it 
was  a  fashion.  He  then  told  how  it  came  that  he  signed  the 
pledge  and  was  saved  from  a  drunkard's  death.  He  was  in 
favor  of  nothing  but  total  abstinence.  There  was  no  half- 
way place  in  his  doctrine.  He  then  advocated  the  red-ribbon 
movement  in  his  own  peculiar  manner.  The  red  ribbon  was 
not  a  sign  of  the  reformed  drunkard,  it  is  an  emblem  which 
all  men  who  believed  in  total  abstinence  should  wear,  and 
which  proclaimed  to  the  world  the  wearer's  principles,  and 


892  THE   LIFE   AND    WORK   OF 

announced  that  he  is  not  afraid  to  tell  the  world  that  he  cared 
not  for  alcoholic  drinks. 

A  gentleman  asked  the  doctor  this  question  :  "  Is  there  any 
truth  in  the  statement  which  has  been  made  in  some  papers 
that  you  do  not  preach  saving  grace  and  seek  the  regeneration 
of  men,  but  only  to  reform  them  after  a  sort  of  independent 
reformative  method,  with  the  plan  of  salvation  omitted  ?" 

He  replied  :  "  My  work  is  not  that  of  a  preacher  ;  but 
it  is  to  induce  men  to  sign  the  pledge.  I  consider  that 
the  first  step  toward  salvation  in  the  case  of  some  men — 
to  sign  the  pledge,  and  we  trust  God  to  help  them  keep  it. 
I'm  not  a  preacher — .I'm  a  reformed  drunkard,  and  I  know  that 
some  men  have  to  be  brought  up  to  a  certain  point  before  they 
can  accept  the  idea  of  salvation  by  faith.  I  was  probably 
about  as  low  as  any  man  ever  was,  but  I  signed  the  pledge. 
Isn't  it  better  to  have  a  man  stop  being  a  drunkard  even 
-though  he  isn't  converted  right  away  ?  I  signed  the  pledge, 
and  that  was  the  first  step  ;  then  after  a  while  I  found  how  to 
trust  God  to  help  me." 

In  their  further  conversation,  the  doctor  stated  that 
the  object  of  his  work  was  to  get  men  on  to  the  right 
track,  so  that  they  could  lead  at  last  out  into  the  light. 
He  spoke  of  the  evils  of  beer.  "  The  hardest  men  we  have 
to  deal  with,  are  young  fellows  from  fourteen  to  twenty- 
two,  who  drink  beer,"  said  he.  "  Beer  is  the  curse  of  the  West. 
Men  persuade  themselves  that  because  they  don't  drink  whisky 
they're  not  drunkards,  but  it  aint  so.  I've  been  as  drunk  on 
beer  as  ever  I  was  on  rum.  These  young  men  like  you,  my 
brother,  who  brink  beer,  ten  years  from  now  will  be  drunk- 
ards. Alcohol  is  alcohol,  and  it  don't  matter  how  a  man  gets 
it  into  his  stomach,  the  effect  is  the  same.  Some  day  the 
people  will  see  it.  This  evil  is  going  to  be  abolished.  God  '11 
bless  this  work.  It  may  not  be  in  my  day,  but  I  know  that 
sometime — I  don't  know  how  or  when,  but  sometime — this 
will  be  realized.  It's  going  to  ruin  the  business  of  the  saloons. 


HENEY  A.    EEYNOLDS.  893 

They've  got  to  feel  it,  and  I  only  wish  to  God  it  would  cut  off 
their  business  altogether." 

The  doctor  showed  one  of  his  pledges.  It  was  as  follows  : 
"  We,  the  undersigned,  for  our  own  good  and  the  good  of  the 
world  in  which  we  live,  do  hereby  promise  and  engage,' with 
the  help  of  Almighty  God,  to  abstain  from  buying,  selling 
or  usingalcoholic  or  malt  beverages,  wine  and  cider  included." 

"  That  is  the  pledge,"  said  the  doctor,  "  that  we  form  our 
Reform  Clubs  on.  I  claim  that  it's  the  hardest  pledge  pre- 
sented, and  I'd  rather  have  a  dozen  men  sign  that  and  become 
solid,  firm,  fixed,  than  to  have  200  sign  one  of  these  easy- 
going pledges." 

"  How  many  signers  of  the  pledge  have  you  had  since  you 
began  your  work  ?" 

"  Since  three  years  ago,  when  we  started  on  this  system, 
upward  of  300,000  men  have  signed  it." 

"How  many  of  those  are  now  members  of  your  Reform 
Clubs?" 

"  Well,  about  85  per  cent,  have  remained  in  line — and  that, 
we  think,  is  an  argument  that  God  is  in  our  work." 

In  regard  to  the  general  advantages  of  getting  a  man  to 
sign  the  pledge  aside  from  his  religious  conversion,  Dr.  Rey- 
nolds said:  "You  see  there  are  narrow-minded  people  who  can't 
see  the  good  of  reforming  a  man  without  converting  him;  but 
there  are  indirect  advantages.  If  a  man  becomes  steady  and 
sober  and  some  of  his  children  get  to  going  to  Sunday-school, 
it  seems  to  me  there's  some  good  in  his  signing  the  pledge, 
even  though  he  don't  get  converted  himself." 

Again  the  doctor  said  in  the  same  conversation  : 

"  I'll  tell  you.  Here's  John,  for  instance.  His  wife's  sick 
at  home  and  hasn't  any  bread  or  medicine,  because  he  spends 
his  money  for  rum.  His  children  can't  go  out  to-day  on  ac- 
count of  the  snow,  because  they  haven't  any  slices.  Well, 
John  wishes  it  wasn't  that  way.  He's  been  wishing  so  for 
years,  but  he's  kept  on  drinking.  He  signs  our  pledge.  His 
wife  gets  a  doctor.  They  get  a  pane  of  glass  in  where  there 


894  HENRY    A.    REYNOLDS. 

was  an  old  hat.  John  has  stopped  drinking.  His  wife  can 
go  out  to  church.  He  stays  at  home  and  curses  and  swears  as 
much  as  ever,  maybe,  but  he  don't  drink  any  more,  or  maybe 
he  wanders  around  on  the  wharves  to  kill  the  time.  He  won't 
go  to  church.  He  has  a  prejudice  against  church,  which 
liquor  has  produced,  and  of  which  we  all  have  enough  anyway 
without  liquor  ;  butby-and-by  there's  a  rainy  night^nd  John 
stands  at  the  church  door  waiting  to  take  Susan,  his  wife,  you 
know,  home  from  prayer-meeting.  He  goes  in — just  inside 
the  door  ;  that's  all.  He  sees  it  isn't  such  a  bad  place.  The 
children  have  been  bringing  home  tracts.  He  gets  to  thinking 
about  these  things.  Now,  hasn't  there  some  good  come  from 
signing  that  pledge?  I  think  so.  If,  when  John  gets  to 
thinking,  he  gets  converted,  so  much  the  better  ;  but  if  he 
don't  isn't  it  better  to  have  him  a  steady  man  than  a  dirty 
drunkard  ?" 

Such  men  as  Henry  A.  Reynolds  are  grand  instruments  of 
redeeming  grace,  and  a  great  element  of  their  power  is  that 
they  recognize  themselves  as  such,  and  invoke  the  help  of 
prayer.  The  motto  "Dare  to  do  right,"  which  is  imperishably 
associated  with  his  name,  has  become  the  shibboleth  of  hun- 
dreds of  thousands,  and,  under  the  favor  and  help  of  God,  they 
have  dared  to  do  right  by  emerging  from  the  dark  slough  of 
drunkenness,  and  consecrating  themselves  to  earnest  and  self- 
respecting  lives. 

The  temperance  wave  under  Murphy  and  Reynolds  have 
rolled  like  a  Nile  flood  over  the  land,  fertilizing  the  deeds  of 
good  and  truth,  and  we  have  not  yet  commenced  to  realize  the 
great  harvest  that  remains  to  be  reaped.  An  army  of  patient 
and  enthusiastic  workers  has  been  organized  under  the  gen- 
eralship of  these  two  chiefs,  and  every  week  adds  to  their 
triumphs,  and  is  making  fresh  history  of  the  progress  of  a 
magnificent  cause.  The  prayers  of  the  good  -and  faithful 
Christians  throughout  the  country  arc  with  them,  and  with 
these  prayers  the  fervent  belief  that  the  work  inaugurated  is 
only  in  its  beginnings,  as  grand  as  the  results  have  been. 


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